- Zawahiri describes formation of ‘al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent’ as a glad tiding for Muslims ‘in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir’
- India ordered several provinces on Thursday to be on increased alert
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and “raise the flag of jihad” across the subcontinent.
In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahiri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational militancy.
Zawahiri described the formation of “al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” as a glad tiding for Muslims “in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir” and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.
Counter-terrorism experts say Al Qaeda’s aging leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanised young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border.
Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a “caliph” or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims.
The group fell out with Zawahiri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi’s followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions.
As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi.
He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation.
However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge.
Safe haven
Over the years Zawahiri and his predecessor Osama bin Laden, killed by US forces in 2011, repeatedly pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar, in return for the safe haven he granted their followers in Afghanistan.
The statement did not mention Islamic State or Baghdadi, but it appear to take a subtle dig at the group’s efforts at administering areas it has seized in Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State’s effort at state-building is something never attempted by al Qaeda’s central leaders, who traditionally have preferred to plot complex attacks on targets in the West.
Zawahiri called for unity among militants and criticised “discord” — echoing a common Al Qaeda complaint against Islamic State’s record of clashing with rival Islamist groups in Syria.
Indian states on alert
India ordered several provinces on Thursday to be on increased alert after al Qaeda announced the formation of a wing of the militant group in India and its neighbourhood, a senior government official said.
The government believes it is authentic and has warned local governments, said an official who attended a security briefing in which the video was discussed with the home interior minister.
“This matter has been taken very seriously,” the official said. “An alert has been sounded.”
A high security alert in the state involves activating informer networks in sensitive areas. A senior police official said that Gujarat has been high on the list of militant organisations, including Al Qaeda, since the 2002 riots.
Until now there has been no evidence that al Qaeda has a presence in India.
all these are sponsored by isi and pakistani military , whole world knows this reality. But terrorist don't KNOW they will soon meet to DOG CALLED OSAMA BIN LADEN
you guys always have Pakistani military in mind because of ——- look under you sleeves do not blame other. its your behavior.
Death to zionist usa, Death to israHELL, Death to all zionists
Death to hindoustan hindous slaves
Shouting will give no result..you are already in the hell enjoying your death along with your country's
ARE YOU GOING TO VISIT THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICANS IF YOU ARE GOING TO KILL THEM BY THE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS?
The 35 Indians packed into an airtight shipping container unloaded at a British port today are an example of the importance of ports and exports in India’s prosperity that Modi referred to in his Independence Day speech yesterday. Goonda Modi wants to keep India in the gutter, providing cheap labor to foreign companies. You do not abolish the Planning Commission, you immediately increase the size of the Plans tenfold or twenty fold, with unlimited amount of capital available by printing the money, to produce and provide free house, free 4 sets of clothing, free bicycle, free food, free education, free computer etc. to everyone. AMagicalSolutionToPovertyDOTblogspotDOTcom . And unimaginable prosperity in 10 years. India doesn’t do that because it is still under colonial rule through RAW which is a branch of the CIA because of the over 10 million Indians killed after 1857 by gun and sword in just Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar out of a total Indian population of 200 million. For the first time now India has the means to destroy its colonial masters by exploding the nuclear warheads emplaced in Washington and New York with a warning that additional U.S. cities will be similarly destroyed if there is any retaliation or sign of retaliation. Without physically destroying India’s colonial masters, nothing will change. RAW, a branch of the CIA constantly waging war upon India, remains in place. Manmohan Singh made India’s servitude deeper by requiring Indian civil servants to go to U.S. universities on whose approval their promotions became dependent. The stupid nigger woman who is the Gujarat chief minister just met the U.S. ambassador and asked her to open a visa office in Gujarat so Gujaratis who get admission in U.S. universities can get visas easier, unaware that such dependence in higher education is unnecessary and produces the deepest form of slavery. The stupid nigger Venkaiah Naidu just said Indians should go to U.S. to “learn, earn and return”, unaware that such dependence is unnecessary and is a prescription for slavery. Just as Kakodkar received a huge American bribe to drop his opposition to the nuclear deal and to sabotage India’s Thorium-based program, Nirmala Sitharaman has just received a huge American bribe to let the Americans destroy India’s food security. India’s slavery is the result of Indians killed by the tens of millions and its centers of learning destroyed. India has to kill Americans by the hundreds of millions and destroy Harvard, Yale and all American centers of learning and research. All IAS and IFS people by training work for the CIA and should be replaced by RSS cadres.
Satish Chandra
Which part of India you belong ? Go and do something for your neighboring places before criticising others. I really doubt your citizenship and believe you are very much qualified to be a citizen for Pakistan or China
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