Since the organization has no official spokesperson, the agencies are not sure whether the statement was actually issued by AQIS.
Security agencies are probing a statement issued by Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS) earlier this month condoling the death of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who killed militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir. supported.
Since the organization has no official spokesperson, the agencies are not sure whether the statement was actually issued by AQIS. However, its content is being taken seriously for the purpose of assessing threat perception.
“This could very well be another ploy to take advantage of the situation to affect the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir. An agency official said similar modalities are followed by organizations such as The Resistance Front and People’s Anti-Fascist Front, which used to take responsibility for the terror attacks to hide the role of Pakistan-based elements.
AQIS’s “statement” said Gilani’s death came at a time when the world saw the Taliban take over Afghanistan. Earlier last month, another statement congratulating the Taliban on a “victory” against US-led NATO forces was circulated on social media.
“Based on the investigation so far, we know that like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed, AQIS is backing the Taliban and has also lost many of its important leaders in the fight with the US. Already happened. -Lead force,” said an official of the agency.
A commander named Dawlat Bek Tajaki was killed in Afghanistan’s Paktika province in March, while Abu Muhsin al-Masri, a high-ranking al-Qaeda member, was killed in October last year. The then AQIS chief Asim Umar was also assassinated in Helmand’s Musa Kala in September 2019.
Noting that AQIS has in the past attempted to create a module involving Indian citizens, agencies regularly closely monitor its activities. Umar, who originally hailed from Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and relocated to Pakistan in the 1990s, had contacted potential recruits through social media platforms. At his behest, in 2013, some of them also visited Pakistan’s North Waziristan via Iran and Afghanistan.
However, since December 2015, most of the alleged members of the module were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police following a tip-off from intelligence agencies from different parts of the country.
The AQIS is affiliated with al Qaeda which has also praised the Taliban and the Haqqani network over the Kabul takeover. “This clearly establishes that they share similar ideologies and goals. Al Qaeda’s alliance with the Taliban dates back to 1996 when it sheltered Osama bin Laden after he was expelled from Sudan,” said another official.
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