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Islamist militants in the Somali city of Kissmayo pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, according to a statement posted on a Somali jihadi blog. “The Islamic administration of Kissmayo, under the command of Sheikh Abu Bakr Zayla'I, pledged allegiance to Sheikh Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda leaders, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Yahya al-Libi God protect them all,” the statement said.

The allegiance oath came in an audio statement voiced by the Deputy leader of al Shabab Kissmayo division, Abdel Ghani Mohammad Yousuf, and aired on a local radio station called “al Andalus Islamic Radio.” He said that the group did not “fear the infidels of America and their allies, nor did they fear the apostate government in Somalia. “

The deputy leader announced in his radio address that his group gets its religious edicts from the leaders of al Qaeda. “I say to the Somali people that our jihad is an integral part of that of our brethren in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said. He added that “every aspect of jihad management in Somalia” was for senior al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed had told a press conference in Mogadishu last month that foreign fighters had joined the ranks of Shabab al Mujahideen group and appealed to the international community for help.

This is the first time that Islamist militants in Somalia openly associate themselves with al Qaeda, despite previous indications of cooperation and coordination between the two groups.

In March 2009, bin Laden released an audiotape that he dedicated entirely to Somalia, which reflected his interest and that of al Qaeda in the country. In the tape, Bin Laden lashed out at the newly elected Somali president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed and urged Somali militants to overthrow him.

A new video released by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on the Internet shows three children who seem to be between six and 12 years in one of the militants’ camps. The children are identified as Abu Dujana Sufian, Muadz Abdel Salam and Osama and were born and raised in the camps according to the video. The eldest of the three Abdel Salam is seen making a speech before the camera pledging to fight the “worshippers of the cross.”

The video was released to pay tribute to a group of operatives who carried out suicide attacks in Algeria over the past year.

The one-hour and a half video is entitled “Lovers of the Hoors II” and includes the final statements of a number of suicide bombers. One of them is Mohammed Abu Sajda, an Algerian suicide bomber in his twenties, who had blown his car bomb into a military outpost in Boumerdes last August. Abu Sajda is seen addressing a group of would-be-suicide bombers, explaining to them the strategy of how not to chicken out and turn their attack into a successful suicide mission.

“You are on your way to do a (big) job. From here I shall go on with my martyrdom operation and shall blow up my truck, and you too, you shall kill them so don’t be afraid,” he is seen saying.

The video also showed excerpts from the final wills of Abu Uthman and Abdul Rahman Abu Abdul Nasser, two suicide bombers who rammed their explosives-laden trucks into the U.N. and the constitutional council’s buildings in the Algerian capital Algiers in December 2007

The video also mentions two suicide bombers identified as Yucef Bu Basir, and Ibrahim Ladham, who had attacked together a military outpost in the Algerian capital using explosive belts, a technique which is not commonly used by the group.

It also included the will of Abu Bara Abdel Malik, a suicide bomber who blew his car bomb into a military patrol in al Bweira area. The tape also included scenes of the bomb-preparation process.

The video also shows excerpts from previously seen militant Islamist videos from Algeria, Somalia and Chechnya as well as a number of old statement by some terrorist leaders like al Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri.

A group of militants from the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) denounced the Israeli aggression on Gaza and pledged support for Palestinians in a new video posted by the group on the Internet.

The six men, all dressed in military uniforms, balaclavas and carrying AK-47s appeared in a mountainous area with snow that looked like is melting off around them. Five of them made their speeches in Turkish, while one spoke in German. This latter may be Abdul Gaffar al-Almani, who is known as “Eric B.”, a 20-year old German convert to Islam from Neuenkirchen in Saarland, who traveled to Pakistan in 2007 and joined the ranks of the IJU.

The video is 26 minutes long and is entitled “Call of Justice.”
The IJU was founded by fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in 2002 in Pakistan’s tribal areas. In 2005, the group got closer to al-Qaeda and began plotting terror attacks in Pakistan. It is based in Mirali in South Waziristan and is known for attracting recruits from Turkey, Turkish communities in Western Europe and Muslim converts from Europe.
The video also featured short speeches by a number of other militants, who all spoke in English.

Five days after President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay within a year, two Saudis who were released from the controversial U.S. prison in 2007 renewed their pledge to attack western interests in a video released by Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula on the internet today.

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A Kurdish group called “The Kurdistan Liberation Army” released an Internet statement pledging allegiance to Saddam's former deputy and the current Supreme Commander of the Jihad and Liberation Council Izzet Ibrahim al Doury.
“We pledge before God, and before you, that we shall be one of your brave armies fighting the American occupation and its traitor agents,” said the statement.

Two Iraqi women, who identified themselves as suicide bomber, appeared in a short video in which they pledged their loyalty to the former regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. “I, Nosha Qaddour al Shemmari, swear by God and the holy book, to give my life to defend Iraq,” said one woman, while holding a machine gun and standing before an old Iraqi flag. The video appears to be old, as the woman refers to Saddam Hussein as if he was still alive.

A post by a member of a popular militant Islamist Internet forum about whether he should pledge allegiance to Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, or to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has spurred a discussion about the issue. The two men have been referred to as “the prince of the faithful” in Iraq and Afghanistan and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar. This seems to have confused those who are neither in Iraq nor Afghanistan and wish to show support to militant Islamist movements. One response to the posted question suggested those who are in Iraq should pledge allegiance to al Baghdadi and those in Afghanistan to Mullah Omar and pointed out that there’s no leader for all Muslims because the caliphate has not been established.

The Islamic Front for the Liberation of Palestine – The Army of Mohammad - released a statement posted on the Internet Wednesday in which it pledged allegiance to al Qaeda’s leader Osama bin Laden. “We, at the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, pledge allegiance to Mujahid Sheikh Osama bin Laden, the Sheikh of Islam and the Emir of the Mujahideen,” the statement said.

“We vow to protect al Aqsa Mosque and liberate the lands of Islamic Palestine from the Zionists and the Cruders.” The statement indicates the group is formed of foreign militants who headed to Gaza to fight the Israeli army under the banner of al Qaeda. “To our Muslim brothers in the land of Islamic Palestine we say: We have come to you, across the border, raising the banner of Islam and the weapon of jihad.”

The group, who took a local man called “Abul Qassem” as its leader, also presented its operations including rocket attacks on Israeli settlements adjacent to Rafah and Beit Hanun, a rocket attack on Ashkelon on May 14th and an IED attack on an Israeli Jeep in eastern Absan, in Khan Younis. The statement explains that the latter was initially meant to be a suicide operation. A short clip depicting the IED attack was provided with the statement.

The statement also warns President Mahmoud Abbas that if he does not stop his campaign against the mujaheddin the group would use car bombs to target the “traitors.”