At first glance, the neat handwriting in blue ink could be from a school notebook.
Prise apart the pages – stuck together by sand and water – and it becomes clear that the book belonged to a militant from Al Qaeda. Discarded in shrubbery in the mountains of southern Yemen, it covers everything from the principles of a raid – “Surprise, firepower, a sacrificial spirit, quick performance” – to the ultimate goal: “Establishing an Islamic state that rules by Islamic Sharia law.”
The notebook, with the name Abu al-Dahdah al-Taazi in red calligraphy on the first page, is one relic of what a local Yemeni governor called a leadership camp for Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP).
