Al-Qaeda Propaganda Magazine Says It 'Inspired' Boston Bombings
The most recent issue of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda's propaganda magazine, Inspire, reportedly claims to have inspired the mid-April Boston bombings, which killed three and injured over 250.
An excerpt in the magazine also reportedly promises that there will be more "lone-wolf" attacks in the U.S. similar to the Boston bombing, in which Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev left bombs concealed in pressure cookers and black backpacks near the finish line of the 117th annual Boston Marathon.
The 40-page Inspire magazine describes the Boston bombings as the "BBB," or "Blessed Boston Bombings," and the propaganda magazine opens with a letter from Jonas the Rebel, a writer evidently using a pseudonym.
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"When one reflects on the Boston events, his attention is drawn to the tumult made by the fact that the Tsarnaev brothers were Muslims. To Americans, your belongingness to Islam is enough to classify you as an enemy," the introduction reads.
"As a matter of fact, they look at us as Muslim youth regardless of our appearance and education. They do not consider our citizenship and the childhood we spent in their neighborhoods," the introduction continues.
"The Boston Bombings have uncovered the capabilities of the Muslim youth, they have revealed the power of a Lone Jihad operation."
As USA Today reports, the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors jihadist web forums, reportedly translated the recent issue of Inspire and found that the magazine's editor, Yahya Ibrahim, encourages all Muslims to participate in attacks against the West.
"The responsibility for fighting America and allies is not limited to Al-Qaeda, it is also the duty of every Muslim," Ibrahim wrote.
"And as long as America's hand is in the Muslim countries, we will always have our hands in their backyard; their streets, universities, ceremonies, sports events and even forests."
Ibrahim went on to credit Inspire with motivating the Tsarnaev brothers to carry out their attack on Boston in an article titled "Inspired by Inspire."
"In the past few weeks, the expression 'Inspired by Inspire' has been tweeted and retweeted," Ibrahim wrote, according to USA Today.
"Yes, the brothers have been inspired by Inspire. This is not only because Inspire offers bomb recipes, but also because of the contents of the magazine as a whole," Ibrahim noted, referencing the magazine's overall theme of jihad.
Although older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a firefight with police shortly after the bombing, younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured and arrested.
The younger Tsarnaev reportedly told police during his interrogation that he and his brother learned to make their pressure cooker bombs using Inspire's step-by-step guide.
NBC News notes, however, that a Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center report following an investigation of the pressure cooker bombs found that although many similarities can be traced between Inspire's directions and the Tsarnaev bombs, the brothers also deviated from the magazine's instructions when constructing their weapons.
The magazine, which was founded by American-born Muslims Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, has previously featured directions on how to make homemade bombs, locations for jihadist training camps, and sermons from prominent jihadist leaders, among other things.
Both Awlaki and Khan have been in killed in U.S. drone strikes since the magazine was first published in 2010.
The magazine also briefly commended the May 22 attack in Great Britain, in which two British Muslims of Nigerian decent allegedly attacked an off-duty solider to avenge Islam.
