Nov. 21: Al Qaida’s branch in Yemen said yesterday that the failed parcel bomb plot last month cost only $4,200 (Rs 1.9 lakh) to mount, was intended to disrupt global air cargo systems and reflected a new strategy of low-cost attacks designed to inflict broad economic damage.

The group, al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released to militant websites a new edition of its English-language magazine, called Inspire, devoted entirely to explaining the technology and tactics in the attack, in which toner cartridges packed with explosives were intercepted in Dubai and Britain.

The printers containing the cartridges had been sent from Yemen’s capital, Sana, to out-of-date addresses for two Chicago synagogues.

The attack failed as a result of a tip from Saudi intelligence, which provided the tracking numbers for the parcels, sent via United Parcel Service and FedEx. But the Qaida magazine said the fear, disruption and added security costs caused by the packages made what it called Operation Hemorrhage a success.

“Two Nokia mobiles, $150 (Rs 6,750) each, two HP printers, $300 (Rs 13,500) each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4,200 That is all what Operation Hemorrhage cost us,” the magazine said.

It mocked the notion that the plot was a failure, saying it was the work of “less than six brothers” over three months. “This supposedly ‘foiled plot,’” the group wrote, “will without a doubt cost America and other Western countries billions of dollars in new security measures. That is what we call leverage.”

The magazine included photographs of the printers and bombs that the group said were taken before they were shipped, as well as a copy of the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens that it said it had placed in one package because the group was “very optimistic” about the operation’s success.

The magazine also gave a detailed account of the construction and disguise of the explosives.

The magazine said that the AQAP had adopted a “strategy of a thousand cuts.”

“To bring down America we do not need to strike big,” it said. “In such an environment of security phobia that is sweeping America, it is more feasible to stage smaller attacks that involve less players and less time to launch and thus we may circumvent the security barriers America worked so hard to erect.”

The new issue of Inspire asserts that because a September 3 cargo jet crash in the UAE was not attributed to terrorism, the AQAP decided to remain silent about it to increase chances that future parcel bombs would go undetected.

The magazine has the same flashy graphics, idiomatic English and cocky attitude as were shown in the first two issues, released online in the summer and fall. Intelligence officials have said they believe the magazine is largely the work of Samir Khan, an American citizen who moved to Yemen from North Carolina last year. It may also reflect the influence of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric who is now active in the region.

AQAP consists mainly of Saudis and Yemenis and is believed to have close ties to Osama bin Laden and the terrorist network’s central leadership in Pakistan. It initially focused on plotting against the Saudi monarchy and the Yemeni government and continues to carry out attacks in the Arabian peninsula.