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An increasing number of children and teenagers are appearing in jihadi videos of the militant Afghan Taliban movement, which claims that they carry out suicide attacks. A new propaganda video showing attacks carried out by the group shows two young boys who allegedly carried out two separate suicide attacks in Nangarhar in Western Afghanistan.

The video shows a teen suicide bomber called al Hafidh, who seems to be 15 to 16 years old, sitting in the middle of a group of masked gunmen and reading the Quran, before making his final goodbyes to carry out the attack.

Though the video does not show the actual attack, the group claims that the boy rammed his explosives-laden car into a U.S. convoy in Nangarhar, destroying three armored vehicles, and killing five U.S. soldiers.

The video also includes footage of another young boy, who looks about the same age, and is identified as Ahmad Bilal. The group claims he killed 14 U.S. soldiers in a suicide attack on a convoy in Fathabad, Nangarhar. Again, the video does not show the actual operation, but there are shots of the explosives’ preparation process in which the boy took part.

The video also showed gruesome pictures of an execution of a man accused by the Taliban of collaborating with the U,S, against the militants. The man was identified as Khushhal Omar Umara Khan, from Muhmand Dara, in Nangarhar. According to the group, he was arrested in November 2008.

The man is seen during the before he sits on the groups with his eyes blindfolded. Four masked men who surrounded him then open fire from a short distance. Although the shots did not kill the man, he is left to die.

The 53-minute video also included footage of an IED attack and parts of a UAV shot down by the militants in Sarubi, according to the group.

A video was released by al Qaeda’s media wing on the Internet Thursday showing the farewell statement of a man identified as Shaykh Mohammed Ashraf Abed, an elderly Afghan suicide bomber who according to the tape carried out an attack on a U.S. air base in Jalalabad, Khost.

The 25-minute tape is in Urdu and included a graphic animation of the attack. The video suggested that Abed drove his explosives-laden truck into the base and rammed it into a helicopter that was sitting on the base’s ground.

The video included excerpts from speeches by other militant Islamist leaders such as Osama Bin laden and Abdullah Azzam.

An al Qaeda video posted on the Internet Tuesday showed two Arab suicide bombers preparing to carry out an attack against a joint U.S.-Afghan outpost in the Afghan province of Khost, according to the video.

The nine-minute video is in Urdu and was produced by al Sahab, al Qaeda’s media wing, last November. The suicide bombers were identified as Abu Hamza al Makki and Abul Bara’ al Hejazi.

The two men are seen saying that operation was in response to the Danish cartoon about Prophet Mohammed.

The release of the video now seems to be aimed at healing the rift between Pashto and Urdu jihadi sympathizers. The Karachi clashes of last April, in which 20 persons were killed, threatened to widen the divide between the two groups.

The suicide bomber in a Taliban attack on the Afghan information ministry in Kabul last October was shown in a video released by the group and looked like he was no more than15 years old.

The one hour and eight minutes video seemed to have been filmed from a building opposite the ministry of information. It showed a lone gunman, looking hesitant and walking towards the entrance of the ministry building. At one point he stops, takes a step back as if to turn around and go back where he came from, but ends up walking towards the ministry.

He is seen taking a gun out of his pocket and firing at the guards sitting inside the security shack outside the ministry, before running into the building.

Afghan security guards stood behind the shack, looking terrified and confused. Seconds later, a big explosion is heard and columns of smoke were seen rising from the building.

The video included aftermath footage from local television stations showing the damaged site of the ministry building.

The video then showed pictures of the perpetrator, who was shown dressed in a military uniform and carrying an AK47 at a training camp.

Al Aqsa TV released pictures of female suicide bombers at the begging of the Israeli offensive in Gaza and posted the tape on a video-sharing website. The women warned that they would detonate themselves into Israeli soldiers if they try to break into their homes.
Three masked women made brief statements before the camera, in front of a Hamas banner, with their hands resting on their Kalashnikovs.
The first one identified herself as Um Suhaib and said she has already lost right members of her family during the current Israeli offensive. She pledged to “turn her body into a fire” that would burn Israeli soldiers.
The second woman said she was a mother of two “martyrs”. She addressed the Israeli army command, saying that Palestinian female would-be-martyrs are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop Israeli soldiers from moving into Gaza .
The third woman was wearing a white veil and appeared with two silent masked women sitting next to her on each side. She made similar threats.

Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri paid tribute to the three Bali bombers who were executed earlier this month. The statement came in the form of an audiotape, the third that al Zawahri has released in less than three weeks.

The 22-minute tape was released by al Qaeda’s media wing al Sahab and is entitled “Martyrdom of The Heroes and the Rulers Treason.”

Al Zawahri claims the three bombers “taught the crusaders a lesson they shall never forget and showed them that their transgression on the Muslim nation in Afghanistan and elsewhere, will not go by without a price.” He addressed Muslims in Indonesia and elsewhere and urged them to join the “jihad.”

The second half of al Zawahiri’s statement was focused on the interfaith dialogue conference organized at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York under Saudi auspices. Al Zawahri slammed Arab and Muslim countries who took part in the conference and accused them of turning it into an occasion for normalization talks with Israel.

Al Zawahiri also strongly criticised the Saudi ruling family for sponsoring the Arab Peace Initiative which according to him “recognizes the legitimacy of the state of Israel and denies Palestinians’ right to most of their land.” He blamed Saudi Arabia for helping the U.S. create the awakening councils to fight the insurgents in Iraq and urged young Saudi youths not to listen to the anti-jihad religious edicts of the Saudi scholars.

The tape included excerpts from interviews with Amrozi and Mukhlas brothers, as well as with Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the London-based al Quds al Arabi newspaper, Saudi opposition figure Saad al Faquieh and Palestinian activist Azzam al Tamimi.

The tape was most likely recorded after November 13, as Zawahiri referred to the Interfaith Dialogue Conference which took place on November 12th.

Shortly after the execution of the three men convicted of being behind the October 2002 attacks in Bali, Indonesia dozens of messages vowing revenge were posted on militant Islamist forums along with pictures of the funeral the three men.
“To the traitor government of Jakarta and its corrupt judges we say, by God we shall come after you no matter how long it takes,” a member of al Shura forum wrote.
One of the three men, Ali Ghufran, is said to have left his will during a telephone conversation to his family just days before his execution and after bribing the prison guards. “Continue this jihad in support of God’s glory and faith,” he supposedly said.
Several embassies, including the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, warned that there was a very high risk of a terrorist attack against western tourists following the execution, though no official travel warning has been issued.

Members of militant Islamist Internet forums launched yet another appeal in a bid to save the three convicted Bali bombers from being executed by authorities in Indonesia. “You must try and execute a pre-emptive strike before the brothers are executed,” said a member of Shomookh al Islam forum, suggesting carrying hap hazardous attacks against tourists or public properties around the country to pressure the government to stop the execution.
Islamic extremists rallied in the Indonesian capital Jakarta today against the imminent execution of the three men. Ja'far Shodiq, brother of Amrozi, one of the three convicted bombers, has threatened a "massacre" if the executions are carried out.

A letter hand-written and signed by the three Bali bombers due to be executed in early November was widely circulated on militant Islamist Internet forums today. The three bombers allegedly urged al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, his deputy Ayman Zawahiri and other militants to "wage war and kill" those who contributed to the death sentence issued against them, including the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Calls for the rescue of the three men had been posted on the Internet forums amid reports suggesting that the execution by firing squad of the three men could take place as early as this weekend.

The imminent execution of the Bali attack bombers at the beginning of November was discussed on several militant Islamist forums today. Many members asked fellow members to pray for God to save them, while one member went as far as suggesting a plan to kidnap Indonesian nationals anywhere in the world, and trade them for the three convicted men. “We call upon any of you who has the capability to take Indonesians hostages in any country around the world, and request the release of the three brothers in exchange for the hostages,” said the posting.