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New Delhi, In the 55-minutes video issued overnight, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the successor to Osama Bin Laden, is seen focussing on a map of the Indian peninsula.
Hours after Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri issued a video announcing a new branch of the terror group to “raise the flag of jihad” in the Indian subcontinent, the government said it was taking the announcement with “all requisite seriousness”. Senior officials in the Home Ministry said a high-level meeting was convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and attended by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and the Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Intelligence sources say the government is treating the video as “genuine”, although it will be verified, and has issued a “an alert across several states”. The Home Ministry has directed state police forces to formulate action plans to guard against “recruitment” for the international group.
In the 55-minutes video issued overnight, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the successor to Osama Bin Laden is seen focussing on a map of the Indian peninsula. “A new branch of al-Qaeda was established called Qaedat al-Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent, seeking to raise the flag of jihad, return the Islamic rule, and empowering the Shariah of Allah across the Indian subcontinent,” he says in his opening remarks in Arabic.
In his statement, the Al-Qaeda chief said the Al-Qaeda branch had been two years in the making, and announced its chief would be Taliban commander Asim Umar, which according to international terror experts is significant. According to Bill Roggio of ‘The Long War Journal, “The creation of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and the promotion of Asim Umar highlights the close ties between al Qaeda and the Taliban groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan”. Other intelligence experts are also pointing to the rise of the IS (Islamic State) terror group, that now controls parts of Iraq and Syria, as a reason why Al-Zawahiri is trying to raise the prominence of Al-Qaeda at this point.
As of date, intelligence sources say, there is no evidence of an Al-Qaeda presence in India. But the video announcement mentions several cities in the subcontinent, where Al-Zawahiri says the new branch would operate to “rescue the vulnerable in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir,” making a specific mention of Indian states and cities that they will target, and the government will focus on in its efforts to guard against any recruitment.
