Al-Qaida has published a hitlist of potential targets in Britain, including the military school Sandhurst, MI5's headquarters and large department stores.

The media arm of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) published the hitlist in its English-language magazine, Inspire, which also included a guide to making car bombs.

The nine-page manual, called Palestine: Betrayal of the Guilty Conscience al-Malahem, said big department stores could be targeted "during Friday prayers (Muslims will be praying)".

It also suggested attacks on the Royal military academy at Sandhurst, in Berkshire, and Thames House, the London headquarters of MI5. In the US, the guide proposed Times Square, Las Vegas nightspots and oil tankers and trains among the list of possible targets.

In a statement first issued last week, Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command said it was aware of the publication and was providing security advice where relevant.

"The MPS counter-terrorism command (SO15) is aware of the publication and appropriate steps have been put in place, including providing security advice where relevant. The public is reminded that viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the UK may constitute an offence under section 1 and/or 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006."

The publication also included a timeline of jihadi attacks spanning back to 1980, with a blank entry at the date "201?" after the 2013 entry about the Boston marathon bombings.

The al-Qaida booklet went on to praise the "Boston bomber brothers" Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the passage. "My Muslim brother: we are conveying to you our military training right into your kitchen to relieve you of the difficulty of travelling to us.

"If you are sincere in your intentions to serve the religion of Allah, then all what you have to do is enter your kitchen and make an explosive device that would damage the enemy if you put your trust in Allah and then use this explosive device properly."

The publication was first noticed by the US thinktank the Middle East Media Research Institute (Memri). Steve Stalinsky, its executive director, said: "Both AQAP and IS [Isis], as well as every other al-Qaida branch and offshoot is relying on US social media companies including Twitter and YouTube for their cyber-jihad efforts. There could be some envy by AQAP that IS is now getting all the headlines."