- 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.