TerrorismAl-Awlaki, posthumously, urges biological, chemical attacks on U.S.

Published 3 May 2012

In a 5-page article published in al Qaeda in Yemen’s English-language magazine, Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born jihadist who was killed last September by a missile launched from a CIA-operated drone, writes that the use of poisons of chemical and biological weapons against U.S. population centers is allowed and strongly recommended “due to the effect on the enemy”

Anwar al-Awlaki, killed in a drone attack // Source: unitednews.com.pk

Last September, missiles fired from CIA-operated drones killed two U.S. citizens in Yemen: New Mexico-born Anwar Al-Awlaki and North Carolina blogger Samir Khan, the editor of al Qaeda in Yemen English-language magazine, Inspire.

Inspire has just published its ninth issue. It contains a 5-page article which al-Awlaki wrote before he was killed. CNN reports that in the article, titled “Targeting the Populations of Countries at War With Muslims,” al-Awlaki justifies the killing of women and children and the use of chemical and biological weapons in addition to bombings and gun attacks.

Al-Awlaki notes that women and children should not be deliberately targeted, but if they are among “combatants,” it is “allowed for Muslims to attack them.” He writes: “Muslims are allowed to target the populations of countries that are at war with Muslims by bombings or fire-arms attacks or other forms of attacks that inevitably lead to the deaths of non-combatants.”

Al-awalki adds: “The use of poisons of chemical and biological weapons against population centers is allowed and strongly recommended due to the effect on the enemy.” He goes on to quote several Muslim religious scholars to justify such attacks, concluding: “These statements of the scholars show that it is allowed to use poison or other methods of mass killing against the disbelievers who are at war with us.”

The current issue of the magazine also contains advice on how to build remote detonation devices using a motorbike alarm and washing-machine timer.

Jihad followers in the United States are also urged to ignite wildfires, and the article contains instructions on how to create an “ember bomb.”