Al Qaeda launches India wing to 'raise the flag of jihad' in subcontinent

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday 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, Zawahri 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 Islamist militancy.

Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as a glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

Zawahari said al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, or AQIS, "break all borders created by Britain in India", and called on all Muslims in the region to "unite under the credo of the one god".

The new organisation, named the Jamaat Qaidat al-jihad fi'shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya, or Organisation of The Base of Jihad in the Indian Sub-Continent, also released online manifestos written by al-Zawahiri, spokesperson Usama Mahmoud, and organisational chief Asim Umar, said a newspaper report.

Meanwhile, reuters citing counter-terrorism experts said al Qaeda's ageing 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.

Zawahri's announcement has also made two references to Gujarat.

"In the wake of this al Qaeda video, we will be on a higher alert. We will work closely with the central government to tackle any threat posed to the state," SK Nanda, the seniormost bureaucrat in the home department of Gujarat, told Reuters. A high security alert in the state involves activating informer networks in sensitive areas.

Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as glad tidings for Muslims "in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

A senior police official said that Gujarat has been high on the list of militant organisations, including al Qaeda, since the 2002 riots.

The ISIS fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi's followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions.

The announcement could pose a challenge to India's new prime minister Narendra Modi.

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.

Kashmir has long attracted foreign mujahideen fighters as well as home-grown separatist militants. In June, al Qaeda released a video urging young radicals in Kashmir to draw inspiration from militants in Syria and Iraq and join the "global jihad."

Intelligence sources in Kashmir told Reuters on Thursday that they had so far detected no traces of al Qaeda in the Himalayan region that borders Pakistan and China.


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