WASHINGTON — Al Qaida-inspired forums on the Internet have been lionizing an unidentified Baghdad sniper, and dubbed "Juba" by the U.S. Army, who is said
to have killed U.S. soldiers in Baghdad.
The Jamestown Foudation said the purported success of Juba has led to
recruitment of snipers for the Sunni insurgency. One webposting was entitled
"How to Become a Sniper," and discusses camouflage, surveillance, cover and
concealment.
"The Arab and Islamic public are weaving various legendary stories about
the lone sniper, consequently encouraging many enthusiastic and zealous
Muslim youth to follow the path of the Baghdad sniper as is probably already
happening in other Iraqi cities," the report said.
The Islamic Army
of Iraq has released two video clips that show the shooting of a U.S. patrol
in Baghdad and broadcast both on television and Internet.
The jihadi forums featured two main sniper attack videos attributed to
Juba. The videos were later broadcast on Iraq's Zawra television.
"Although the Islamic Army of Iraq claims that the sniper attacks are
carried out exclusively by their group, the reputation of the sniper among
jihadis and nationalists alike might encourage other terrorist groups to
adopt similar techniques needed to increase support for their militant
activities," Abdul Hameed Bakier, a Jordanian intelligence analyst, said.
The U.S.-led coalition has been battling both snipers and suicide
bombers during its current operation in Baghdad. Officials said Iraq has
deployed 74,000 troops for the operation, 33,000 of them over the last few
weeks.
"We actually have seen a large increase in not only the numbers of the
forces who are inside Baghdad but also the type that are here," U.S. Maj.
Gen. Joseph Fil, commander of the Multinational Division in Baghdad, said on
Feb. 16. "As to the quality, the Iraqi forces are getting better and better
every day."
The Al Qaida-aligned websites have asserted that Juba belongs to a
battalion of snipers established by the Islamic Army of Iraq. The websites
claimed that the snipers were trained by a U.S. Army manual and fired
Iraqi-origin Tabook sniper rifles, with a range of up to 600 meters.
