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The Iraqi insurgent group Ansar al Islam unveiled a new weapon now used by the group to make up for the inefficiency of the militant’s IED in the face of the enhanced better-armored vehicles currently used by the U.S. Army in Iraq.

The new weapon, which the group called “Ansar 5,” is an anti-personnel landmine, which the group unveiled in its second issue of its online magazine, al Ansar. The article gives a detailed description of the mine, its components, instructions on how to assemble it and some suggestions on how to use it.

The group’s 30-page magazine also included articles on the latest developments in Iraq, descriptions of the group’s of its operations, advice on how to lay the “perfect ambush,” and an analysis of what might have caused the Swine Flu. The group concludes that the Swine Flu virus was most probably created by the U.S. to protect its pharmaceutical companies against the effects of the global economic downturn.

The leader of the Somali militant group Shabab al Mujahdieen Sheikh Mukhtaar Abu Zubayr rejected the government’s plan to implement Islamic law in the country and pledged to continue to fight till it is implemented not only in Somalia, but throughout the whole world.

“We shall continue our fight and the wars shall continue to rage until shari’a is implemented in all continents and until Muslims free Jerusalem,” Mukhtar Abu Zubayr said. He also pledged to continue working on removing Shaikh Ahmad’s government which does not deserve to be called “Islamic,” according to him.

Abu Zubayr’s statements came in a 10-minute audiotape distributed by Shabab al Mujahideen and aired on local radio stations in Somalia.

Shabab al Mujahideen claimed in an Internet statement two days ago they were close to taking full control of the capital Mogadishu. On one of the group’s websites, it showed pictures of government soldiers captured by the militants. A caption accompanying a picture read, “Sharif is left with a bunch of criminals and a few tired old men to fight for him, how can he hope to defeat the mujahideen of Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam?”

The Arab Islamic Resistance (AIR) released a new 10-minute video showing a military drill undertaken by the group’s fighters under the name The “Zi-Qar Drill.” The video showed a small number of fighters, including women and children, training in a mountain area on the use of firearms.

The Arab Islamic Resistance is a Lebanese Shiite militant group that presents itself as an Arab-oriented resistance alternative to the militant Shiite Lebanese Hizbollah group. It was set up last January by Shiite cleric Sayyed Moahammed al Husseiny, Secretary General of the Islamic-Arab Council.

The group is suspected to have fired a number of rockets towards the north of Israel last January. Hizbollah denied being behind the attack, but the AIR never claimed responsibility.

The Iraqi insurgent group, Ansar al Islam released two IED attack clips. The first one showed an attack on a U.S. tank in southern Baghdad. The second video showed an IED attack on U.S. Humvee in Balad.

The Islamic Army in Iraq issued an Internet statement condemning the suicide attack that targeted members of the Iraqi awakening council inside al Kholafa mosque in Dulueiyah.

“The Islamic Army strongly condemns the attack on al Kholafa mosque and urges all groups to stick to the principles of jihad as they were decreed by God,” the statement said.

The militant Islamist group East Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIM) released a new propaganda video, in which it appealed to Muslims in Turkistan to join the group’s camps in Waziristan, Pakistan.

The 43-minute video is entitled “Persistence and preparation for Jihad” and was produced by the group’s media wing Sawt al Islam.

It includes a statement by the group’s current leader Sheikh Abul Haq, as well as its late leader Hassan Makhdum, whose alias is Abu Mohammed al Turkistani. Abul Haq said “jihad” was a duty that falls on all Muslims just like any other religious duty. He also pledged more attacks against Chinese forces. “The operations of the Islamic Turkistani Party will make China experience the same taste of shame and defeat that America has experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Abul Haq said.

Footage from the group’s training camp showed a group of militants undergoing training under the supervision of military commander identified as Seifullah. Once again, he claimed credit for the bus bombings and the attack on the police station in Shanghai and Yunnan in May and July of 2008.

The attacks seem to have been carried out using remotely-detonated explosives devices. Footage shown on the video showed a member of the group placing the explosives in a small suitcase and covering it with some cloths, while having a radio detonator in his hand.

Seifullah also made an appeal to Turkistani Muslims to join the group’s camps in Waziristan and train on the latest weapons used by the Chinese army’s ground forces. He said that the group is currently trying to develop a training program on other weapons used by the army.

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement is a militant group that advocates the creation of an independent, Islamic state of East Turkestan, formally part of Afghanistan, in what is currently the Xinjiang region of China.

The group is thought to have links with al Qaeda. In its 2005 report on terrorism, the U.S. State Department said that the group was "linked to al Qaeda and the international jihadist movement" and that al Qaeda provided the group with "training and financial assistance".

The media wing of the Islamic Turkistani Party released a new 66-minute video paying tribute to the slain leader of the Islamic Turkistani party Hassan Makhdum, who is known Abu Mohammed al Turkistani.

The video includes a biography of Turkistani and various shots showing him running a training camp for a group of militants in Waziristan, giving religious lectures and taking part in operations.

Turkistani was killed along with a senior al Qaeda commander Ahmad Saeed Khadr in an attack on a training camp in Wana, Pakistan on October 2nd, 2003.

A member of al Shoura militant Islamist Internet forum going by the name “Muharib” (Warrior) claimed in a message posted today that he’s received information from the “brothers” in Libya that the government is preparing to hold a major event during which reconciliation between the Libyan regime and the Islamic Fighting Group would be announced.

The message, entitled “Bad News From Libya” said that all group members held in Libyan jails would be released during the event.

The leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting group Abu Abdullah al Sadeq had issued a statement on March 10th in which he praised the son of the Libyan leader Seif al Islam al Gaddafi for his sponsorship of the dialogue that was initiated between the group and the government.

The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was formed in 1995 by Libyan militants who sought to create an Islamic State in Libya upon their return from Afghanistan where they fought alongside the Taliban against the Soviets. Amongst those were senior al Qaeda leader Abu Yehya al Libi and slain al Qaeda commander Abu Laith al Libi.

In November 2007, al Qaeda announced the integration of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group into al Qaeda. The announcement was made by al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al Zawahri and then al Qaeda in Afghanistan commander Abu Laith al Libi in a video tape released by the group on the internet.

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada issued a long statement from his prison cell in the top British security prison of Long Martin where he lashed out at the British government for what he said was an unjust treatment and prosecution of Muslims. His statement, which was widely distributed on a number of militant Islamist Internet forums and chatrooms, may have come as a reaction to the decision to back Abu Qatada’s deportation to Jordan.

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The Iraqi insurgent group Ansar al Islam released a new compilation video that included a large number of operations carried out by the group, mostly IED attacks and rocket attacks around the Baghdad area.

The 24-minute video is entitled “Ansar Hurricane” and also includes excerpts from an audiotape released by the group’s leader Abu Wael last January, which was heard in the background throughout the tape.
There is no indication of when this tape was produces.