Periodical Review: Summary from the Jihadi Forums - The First Half of December 2013

This report summarizes notable events discussed on jihadist Web forums during the first half of December 2013. Following are the main points covered in the report:

• Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for a large-scale terrorist attack that its members carried out against Yemen’s Ministry of Defense compound in Sana’a, the capital. The attack was in revenge for the Yemeni government’s use of U.S. supplied drones against Muslims in Yemen. A senior member of AQAP criticized the attack that one of the militants carried out at the hospital located within the compound, and emphasized that such actions were contrary to the organization’s code of ethics and to the path of Allah.
• Sirajuddin Zurayqat, a senior leader in the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, called on young Muslims in Lebanon to carry out individual terrorist attacks if they were unable to join a jihadist group, and focus on military, political and security-related targets belonging to Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• The Ibn Taymiyyah jihadist media institution reported that the Salafi-jihadist movement had penetrated the West Bank after three Salafi-jihadist activists were killed by Israel.
• The Al-Furqan Brigades in Egypt, which was responsible for several terrorist attacks against various targets within Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, published a new video documenting a series of assassinations and attacks that were carried out by Egyptian soldiers and security forces.