A top al Qaeda leader urged young Muslim men in Western countries to launch attacks on their own, in an audio message released Sunday.
Ayman al-Zawahri suggested Muslim youth look to the orchestrators of the Boston Marathon bombings and Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris as examples of the kinds of lone-wolf attacks they themselves could carry out. Those attacks were headed up by the Tsarnaev and Kouachi brothers, respectively.
“I call on all Muslims who can harm the countries of the crusader coalition not to hesitate,” al-Zawahri said. “We must now focus on moving the war to the heart of the homes and cities of the crusader West and specifically America.”
From al-Zawahri’s references to events, it appears as though the video was made at least a few months ago, but it wasn’t made available publicly until a few days ago.
Zawahri also repeated his opposition to the Islamic State, which is waging a bitter war in Iraq. He views the group as illegitimate, but has also urged unity, saying he would join them in the common cause of fighting Western and secular forces in Iraq and Syria.
“Despite the big mistakes, if I were in Iraq or Syria I would cooperate with them in killing the crusaders and secularists and Shi’ites even though I don’t recognize the legitimacy of their state, because the matter is bigger than that,” he said.
