One- man cell, the new face of Al Qaeda terror

Washington, Aug 15 : The creation of one-man cell seems to be the new strategy of Al Qaeda terrorists.

According to the FoX News, intelligence officials have discovered an online Al Qaeda manual that prescribes that group leaders should training new recruits to operate as smaller cells around the globe.

The manual, called "Method for Building the Personality of a Terrorist Mujahid" and written by an Islamist forum contributor nicknamed "Shamil al-Baghdadi," encourages militant followers to stop focusing on pulling off attacks on the scale of 9-11 and to start executing numerous smaller attacks.

"If for some reason the mission fails, the Jihadi must not abort, but instead carry on alone, as a one-man cell," the paper quotes New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly as saying while quoting from the manual.

It advocates assassinations by shooting, poisoning and booby-trapping cell phones and computers.

Further, targets are to be prioritised by ranking them into categories such as "high profile," which represent presidents and prime ministers.

Recruits are also told to organize credit card scams and to rob police stations in order to get hold of weapons.

However, the most shocking revelation are the lessons on kidnapping, with orders to slaughter hostages in a way that will terrify the public.

Dr. Matthew Levitt, director of The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, said that the structure has shifted from a centralized operation toward smaller cells at a global scale.

"You know, it used to be that the face of Al Qaeda was bin Laden and the core. That is still the case, but now we are reminded about Al Qaeda on a regular basis more because of the activities of the local cells," added Levitt.

Referring to the manual as being specifically tailored to its audience Levitt said, "What this does more than anything else is provides people who are inclined to carry out such attacks with the sense that they now have some information and pushes them to actually go through with it."

ANI