Al-Qaeda targets children through video games

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2013/04/12/feature-03

Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is changing its strategy to target children at an early age to lure them to its radical ideology. To do this, the group is using new methods deemed to be more capable of attracting children's attention such as video games that include a clear strategy to show the group's ability to win wars against international forces.

On March 26th, telquel-online.com published a picture from a jihadist forum showing a video game designed by AQIM.

• [Memri.org] The video game "Muslim Mali" aims to recruit children to al-Qaeda.
  

The game has a military aircraft carrying AQIM's black flag while hitting and destroying French aircraft in the Sahara where battles are raging against the terrorists in northern Mali.

The website said that the game, "Muslim Mali", displays the message "Congratulations, you have become martyrs!" in lieu of "Game Over" when a player loses all their lives.

Journalist Abi Ould Zidan visited Timbuktu while the radical groups were controlling it last year.

"Children usually represent significant numbers of recruits at training camps in Timbuktu," he told Magharebia.

Citing Ansar al-Din spokesperson Sanad Ould Bouamama, he added that the group justified the recruitment of children based on a certain religious interpretation of some hadiths.

However, the exploitation of children by jihadists did not surprise many after adolescents were recently arrested in Ifoghas Mountains.

In addition, a Mauritanian adolescent was killed in the In Amenas operation in southern Algeria. Later information about him showed that he joined al-Qaeda years before his death.

Since al-Qaeda was keen on exploiting all means of communication in order to attract the biggest possible number of sympathisers, it created an account on Twitter to post its statements and tweets.

The AQIM Twitter account on March 24th threatened to kill the French hostages it still held in order to inflame the feelings of hostages' families, AFP cited a website specialising in monitoring Islamist groups as saying.

"Although al-Qaeda usually uses the internet… to pass on its speech and express its opinions and positions, it is also certainly using social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter because it realises that children have a presence on these websites," Mauritanian researcher Bechir Ould Mohamed said.

"Families in Maghreb countries must be keen not to allow their children absolutely free access to social networking websites to prevent them from falling into the trap of the propaganda of jihadist groups," he added. "Most young members of jihadist groups joined when they were adolescents unaware of the risks."

[Darnell 8,478]

Ya, there's some ECM going on, about this game. It's not reported, but it's being done.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

About Us

The Magharebia web site is sponsored by the United States Africa Command, the military command responsible for supporting and enhancing US efforts to promote stability, co-operation and prosperity in the region.

The Magharebia web site is a central source of news and information about the Maghreb in three languages: Arabic, French and English. The goal of Magharebia is to offer accurate, balanced and forward-looking coverage of developments in the Maghreb.

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http://magharebia.com/en_GB/pages/about

Biased? Probably. Accurate? I would hope so, as your tax dollars are at work here.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Biased? Probably. Accurate? I would hope so, as your tax dollars are at work here.

I know I know the IT iS Islamaphobic crowd will be along shortly. Any dissenting website is to them

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

I know I know the IT iS Islamaphobic crowd will be along shortly. Any dissenting website is to them

memri isn't a reputable site.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

memri isn't a reputable site.

Half the sites posted here are not so much. MSNBC for example

[Pooky 3,784]

Half the sites posted here are not so much. MSNBC for example

Hey! Stop picking on my fave news site!

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Hey! Stop picking on my fave news site!

or to be fair fox, cnn and most others

[himher 634]

Answer: We will (also) target children through video games to defend us against those Al-Qaeda terrorists!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9795525/Pakistan-anger-at-video-games-that-depict-country-as-terrorist-haven.html

The latest instalment of the Medal of Honor series opens with American Navy Seals coming ashore in Karachi docks on a mission to destroy a black market arms shipment. But when their detonation sets off a second, bigger explosion they realise they have stumbled on a much bigger terrorist plot, sparking a global manhunt.

A chaotic car chase through the city follows amid warnings that the ISI - Pakistan's intelligence agency - is on the way.

Mr Memon added there was a danger children would be brainwashed into thinking foreign agents were at war inside Karachi, possibly leading them into the arms of militants.

Edited April 15, 2013 by himher