Pakistani Taliban praise slain American, British jihadists

“Inaam,” a slain American jihadist praised by the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan recently released a video of so-called “martyrs” that includes two previously unknown jihadists from the United States and Britain. The two dead Western jihadists were mentioned along with others who have been killed while waging jihad, including some of the top commanders of al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other allied groups, as well as numerous fighters.

The video, which was released on jihadist forums on Feb. 6, was produced by Umar Studio, the media arm of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. The Taliban video was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The video consists of images of scores of top terrorist leaders killed over the past four decades, including: Abdullah Azzam and Osama bin Laden, the co-founders of al Qaeda; “Qari Tahir Jaan,” or Tahir Yuldashev, and Abu Usman Adil, two previous emirs of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; “Saif-ul-Islam Khattab,” or Ibn Khattab, a previous leader of the Arab fighters in Chechnya; Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the founder of al Qaeda in Iraq; Baitullah Mehsud, the founder of The Movement of the Taliban; Nek Muhammad and Abdullah Massoud, two senior Taliban leaders in South Waziristan (Abdullah Massoud was also a detainee at Guantanamo Bay); Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the Afghan Taliban’s military commander; senior al Qaeda leaders Mustafa Abu Yazid and Abu Laith al Libi; and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas.

The Taliban identified the two Western jihadists as “Inaam,” who is from “America,” and “Abbas,” who is from “Britain.” The full identities of Inaam and Abbas were not disclosed, nor have their deaths been reported in the press. The Taliban did not disclose the date or locations of their deaths, or how they were killed.

Inaam and Abbas may have been killed in Pakistan, perhaps in a drone strike or while fighting the Pakistani security services. The US is thought to have killed at least three Brits in drone strikes in 2010. Abdul Jabbar was killed in an airstrike in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on Sept. 8, 2010. Jabbar was said to have been appointed as the future leader of the so-called Islamic Army of Great Britain. And on Dec. 10, 2010, another strike in the Datta Khel area is said to have killed Abu Bakr and Mansoor Ahmed [see LWJ report, British, German jihadists involved in Europe plot killed in Predator strikes, and Threat Matrix report, ‘White’ Britons reported killed in North Waziristan strike].

Both Inaam and Abbas are mentioned with a group of Taliban commanders and fighters who were killed in the tribal agencies of Bajaur, Arakzai, Mohmand, and North and South Waziristan, the settled districts of Lakki Marwat and Attock, and in the Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkwa province.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, is a close ally of al Qaeda. The two groups train and fight together in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Documents seized from Osama bin Laden’s compound showed that Hakeemullah communicated directly with al Qaeda’s top leaders [see LWJ report, Bin Laden docs: Al Qaeda asserts authority in letter to Pakistani Taliban leader].

Hakeemullah personally praised bin Laden in the videotape that featured Inaam and Abbas.

“We can only please Allah if we are killed fighting in His Cause,” Hakeemullah said, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. “One example is of Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy on him. He endured so much difficulties and won Allah’s blessing by sacrificing his life in the Cause of Allah.”

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Tags: Afghanistan, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Taliban