Al-Qaida Continues Defiance on Mosul, Claims Hotel Suicide Bombing

By Evan Kohlmann

The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new video recording and, separately, a text communiqué from Al-Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). During the video, an unidentified individual presented as the official ISI spokesman for the Nineveh province of Iraq (Mosul) sharply denied reports of the ISI's defeat in the city of Mosul: “we bring the good news to you that we are at our full capabilities, and we have not lost a single soldier—neither killed nor arrested. This reality is totally different from what was published by the mass media of the tyrants, which claimed that more than 1,000 fighters were captured, including an officer and commanders. They also claimed that they had arrested the top commander of the ISI in Nineveh province. This is nothing but lies, fabrications, and the falsification of facts… We are the ones who are in control of the situation, and we will choose the suitable time to respond according to the conditions of the present battle.” Underlining the continuing ferocity of its military campaign in Iraq, the ISI has separately claimed credit for a May 29 suicide bombing targeting the Al-Sadeer Hotel. In a text statement claiming its responsibility for the hotel attack, the ISI further declared, “the signs of victory have appeared in Nineveh province, despite the claims from the stooges of al-Maliki that they have taken control of the city [Mosul] and have wiped out the mujahideen. Today, we bring to the Islamic nation the good news that this land is still under the control of the mujahideen—not the apostates.”

These documents can be accessed on the NEFA Foundation website.

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