On September 26, 2009, the Al-Fajr Media Center -- the official logistical group responsible for distributing Al-Qaida propaganda online -- published the 15th issue of "Vanguards of Khorasan", a well-known propaganda magazine about the Afghan jihad. The magazine prominently featured an interview with "Abu Dujanah al-Khorasani", identified as one of the former administrators of the Al-Hesbah jihadi web forum, who had recently traveled to Afghanistan in hopes of joining the mujahideen. "Abu Dujanah" has since been identified as Humam al-Balawi, a young Jordanian doctor who was allegedly working as a CIA informant--and who carried out a devastating suicide bombing attack on Dec. 31 targeting a group of CIA agents at a U.S. outpost in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost.
A complete translation of the "Vanguards of Khorasan" interview with al-Balawi is now available at Flashpoint-intel.com.
Additionally, Al-Qaida's claim of responsibility for al-Balawi's attack (signed by Mustafa Abu al-Yazid) can be accessed via the NEFA Foundation website.
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In addition, a video has surfaced recently was shows Humam al-Balawi with Hakeemullah Mehsud, the Leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. On the tape, Balawi said he carried out the suicide attack to avenge the death of Baitullah Mehsud, Hakeemullah's predecessor who was killed in a US airstrike in South Waziristan on Aug. 5.According to the LWJ, the attack was clearly a joint operation between the Haqqani Network, which is established in Khost; al Qaeda, which likely recruited Balawi; and the Pakistani Taliban, which provided the logistics and training for Balawi.
"This operation is the perfect example of how the Taliban and al Qaeda cooperate and conduct operations," a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal. "We're making a mistake by thinking such clear lines exist between the groups; they work much more closely than is commonly thought."
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