…And inspire the believers

Inspire is an online English-language magazine published by one of al-Qaeda’s main franchises, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AQAP operates primarily in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, but has drawn attention for various terrorist plots against Western targets. Since their founding in 2009, they have carried out numerous deadly attacks, attempted assassinations, conquered territory in Yemen, and incited violence abroad with Inspire and other propaganda outlets. Notably, the group made credible claims to have trained and directed the two attackers of the 2015 shooting at headquarters of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

AQAP published the first issue of Inspire in July 2010, and as of mid-2017 there are 16 issues, the most recent published in November 2016. A principal aim of Inspire is to recruit and mobilize co-conspirators from English-speaking countries, and to encourage them to carry out attacks domestically as well as to join their militia in the Middle East. Inspire famously dedicates a section of each issue to a concept they call “Open Source Jihad”, or detailed how-to-guides for conducting domestic terrorist attacks. In fact, the Boston marathon bombers are believed to have used one of these guides to build the bombs used in their attack [1][2].

The following table presents information on each issue, including the release date and number of pages.

Issue	Cover Story	Release Date	# Pages
1	May our souls be sacrified for you! - Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki	Jun 2010	66
2	Photos from the Operations of Abyan	Oct 2010	73
3	$4,200	Nov 2010	22
4	The Ruling on Dispossessing the Disbelievers Wealth in Dar al-Harb	Jan 2011	66
5	The Tsunami of Change	Mar 2011	69
6	Sadness, Contentment and Aspiration	Jul 2011	60
7	The Greatest Special Operation of All Time	Sep 2011	37
8	Targeting Dar al-Harb Populations	May 2012	62
9	Wining on the Ground	May 2012	61
10	We Are All Usama	Mar 2013	60
11	Who and Why	May 2013	38
12	Shattered: A Story About Change	Mar 2014	71
13	Neurotmesis: Cutting the Nerves and Isolating the Head	Dec 2014	111
14	Assassination Operations	Sep 2015	87
15	Professional Assassinations	May 2016	89
16	The 9/17 Operations	Nov 2016	47

Below is a timeline of issue releases with major offensives by AQAP and counter-offensives by the US and allies. Hover over the colored dots to learn more.