A propaganda tape released this month by the Islamic State (ISIS) has a chilling message for the Maghreb.
Using the pseudonym “Abu Mouqatel”, Tunisian terrorist Abubaker Chacircambi Hakim says he is behind the 2013 murders of Tunisian opposition politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi.
That is not all he aims to tell his former country.
In the video shot in Syria and posted online December 17th, he is seen alongside three other Tunisian fighters for Daesh.
“We are coming from Syria and Iraq to avenge our colleagues killed by security forces,” the quartet threatens. “We will expand to Tunisia soon.”
Abu Mouqatel was born in 1983 and holds both French and Tunisian citizenship. He fought against Tunisian troops in Kasserine before joining the Islamic State.
Regarding the video, Retired Colonel-Major Mokhtar Ben Nasr said the terrorists “wanted to address a threatening message to politicians, security officials, and the army in Tunisia”.
“These groups are deviant war criminals, and young people should know that they are cowards and cannot be considered as leading a war of liberation,” the retired officer said.
“We see today on the ground that they are smitten in all locations, and their fate will be similar to al-Qaeda’s,” he added.
Bassel Torjman, an expert on Islamist groups, told Magharebia that Abu Mouqatel’s declaration “revealed a truth known to many and a shift in the thinking and the work of the organisation of Ansar al-Sharia”.
“They switched their approach to direct confrontation and a clear announcement of their methods, similar to ISIS,” the analyst said.
“The video demonstrates unequivocally the intellectual and organisational relationships between terrorist groups,” he said. “The allied parties, including Ansar al-Sharia, the councils of the rebels, Libya Dawn and Libya Islamic Fighting Group, are heading towards a new phase of extremism that will have serious repercussions on security and stability in the Maghreb and the sub-Saharan region, particularly in Mali.”
According to security expert Ali Zremdini, a string of successful security operations hurt terrorist organisations and sleeper cells, pushing them to engage in a new strategy.
“After their repeated failures, media propaganda became their means to instil fear in the hearts of their enemies,” he told Magharebia.
“Their doctrine is characterised by ruthlessness, lethal acts, and ferocity, not only in their actions but also in the form of speech,” he stressed.
He called for “braving fear and responding to the need for vigilance, to address the risk of terrorism that surrounds us from every side”.
Source : Magharebia