WASHINGTON (AP) — Yemen's al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula is offering chilling magazine tips to would-be militants on how to kill Americans.
"A random hit at a crowded restaurant in Washington, D.C. at lunch . . . might end up knocking out a few government employees," writes one of the authors in the second edition of the group's online, English-language magazine, according to the private SITE Intelligence Group.
The SITE group says it studies, tracks and analyzes the global jihadist network and terrorism financing.
The article in the 74-page October issue of Inspire, launched in July, came just in time for the 10th anniversary of the USS Cole bombing. It shows the group "is not under significant pressure," says Brookings Institution terror expert Bruce Riedel.
Al Qaeda suicide bombers attacked the U.S. destroyer in a Yemen port on Oct. 12, 2000, killing 17 American sailors.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken root in Yemen's remote and mountainous Shabwa province, far from the reach of the country's weak central government.
The group rose toward the top of the security agenda of the United States and other world powers after it was linked to the failed Christmas Day attempt to down a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner. The would-be bomber had explosives sewn into his underwear.
The magazine's content reveals the group's evolving strategy of rejecting easier-to-stop spectacular attacks in favor of one-man operations, using everyday objects.
That shows the organization is "increasingly agile, lethal and opportunistic," according to Yemeni scholar Christopher Boucek from the Carnegie Endowment.
The first edition included an article called "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."
