This is the eighth segment in the series “The Terrorism Industry” by Sheikh Abu Ubaydah Abdallah al-Adam, who was until his death a prominent leader of Al-Qaeda responsible for its intelligence and security operations. The series was published by the Al-Fajr Media Institution, which is responsible for disseminating the written, audio and visual materials of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
In the field of jihad, the meaning of the term “facilities” refers to any place in which a secret operation occurs that must be hidden from view, such as training centers, centers for preparing car bombs and apartments used for secret activities. Even the enemy has secure facilities: embassies, military bases, government offices, etc., and it is important to understand which security arrangements have been made in these places if one decides to attack them. Securing facilities involves a series of steps and obstacles whose purpose is to protect the facilities from attack and infiltration.
Every jihadist facility faces a myriad of dangers, including an enemy attack in which significant individuals in the facility are killed, as the Israeli Mossad did to Arab nuclear scientists. Another danger is the overall destruction of the facility by means of arson, damage to or theft of facility instruments, or chemical destruction using poisonous gases. Another way to destroy a facility is to damage the morale of its employees through psychological warfare by spreading false rumors. In addition to intentional methods of destruction, there is always the threat of natural disasters: earthquakes, floods and storms. Facilities also face the threat of espionage: sometimes the enemy will send spies inside the facility to observe it regularly and examine its makeup in order to plan an infiltration or attack. It is worthwhile for employees to form good relations with the neighbors and with the owners of businesses and stores near the facility because intelligence agencies often try to gather information about a facility from such individuals, and it is best if they can warn the mujahideen of these efforts in advance. In addition, various intelligence organizations around the world plant listening devices in target facilities in order to gather information about the facility in an indirect way without sending in spies. Sometimes the enemy even tries to send people to speak with employees of the facility in a seemingly innocent and non-suspicious way and take advantage of their lack of security awareness in order to extract information from them about the facility; sometimes, the enemy even sends people to talk to family members or acquaintances of facility employees.
In order to protect the facility, there are natural factors to consider when choosing a place (geographic location, mountains, etc.) and artificial steps to be taken: