Security headache as Al Qaeda's revival plan unfolds from Gujarat to Assam

New Delhi, June 23 (IANS) The busting of an Al Qaeda terror module in Gujarat once again signals the ambitious plans the outfit has in India. Mohd Faiq, Mohd Fardeen, Sefullah Kureshi, and Zeeshan Ali were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) for spreading the ideology of the outfit as well as running a fake currency racket to raise funds for the banned outfit that was once headed by Osama bin Laden.

Preliminary investigations by the ATS suggest that the four had auto-deleted applications to clean any trace of their communications.

The busting of this network is a major success for the agencies since the Al Qaeda in the Sub-Continent (AQIS) has its biggest ambitions in Gujarat. The busting of this module is also important in the context of the Indian agencies stating that the ISI is likely to use the AQIS to further its operations in India in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor which was carried out to avenge the Pahalgam attack.

The AQIS, which was formed in 2014 under the leadership of Ayman Al Zawahiri, had focused its activities extensively on India. Its chief in the sub-continent was Asim Umar, a person of Indian origin. As part of his expansion plan, he had focused the outfit’s activities largely on Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, and the northeastern states.

The intentions of the AQIS for India were made clear when it declared that all Indian Muslims were obligated to launch a holy war against the "Bhagwa regime" in India for targeting mosques and settlements in Pakistan. This statement, which was released after Operation Sindoor, made it clear that the ISI wants this outfit to up its ante in India. Moreover, this statement came at a time when one thought that the AQIS was losing its sheen.

In fact, the statement was a tactical one and was aimed at openly supporting Pakistan. At a time when Pakistan would need much more time to rebuild the facilities of the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, which were hit by the Indian armed forces, the AQIS could be used to fill in the gap.

The assessment by the security agencies is that the AQIS is not as strong as it would claim to be, but in India, in terms of ideology, it has a far bigger reach when compared to the Islamic State, Jaish-e-Mohammad, or Lashkar-e-Taiba. There are many who still hero-worship Osama bin Laden, and this is one of the main reasons why the reach is much higher. Further, after Umar was killed, the AQIS has turned against India even more. It launched a magazine called "Nawa-Ghazwatul Hind (Voice of the Battle for India)".

However, the plans of Al Qaeda for India are not new. It began when David Headley was in Pakistan before the planning for the Mumbai 26/11 attacks began. He had a meeting with Ilyas Kashmiri, the head of Al Qaeda’s 313 Brigade, during which both planned terror strikes in Gujarat, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh. While scouting targets for the Mumbai attack, Headley had even visited Delhi and Pune.

Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the Mumbai 26/11 case who was recently extradited to India, had, prior to the attacks, visited Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kochi, Agra, Hapur, and Mumbai. The investigators suspect that he may have furthered his agenda at the behest of his handlers in Pakistan. Rana’s visits were against the backdrop of statements by Ilyas Kashmiri that he wanted recruits from Kerala, Gujarat and other parts of the country to carry out his ambitious Ghazwa-e-Hind project.

While a module was busted in Gujarat on Wednesday, the Assam Police too had busted a terror module. It was found that these alleged members of Al Qaeda were in close contact with members of the Bangladeshi outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team, to carry out acts of terror in the northeastern states.

While the original plan of Al Qaeda was to focus on Afghanistan, it made a surprising turn in 2020 when it renamed its Urdu magazine "Nawa-i-Afghan Jihad" to "Nawaz-i-Ghazwa-e-Hind". As part of its expansion plans in India, it has managed to rope in several illegal Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh. This came to light when the NIA arrested 53 persons, including Bangladeshis, for being part of an AQIS module.

To add to the problem is the failing law and order situation in Bangladesh. Almost all the terror groups in Bangladesh lean more towards Al Qaeda when compared to the Islamic State. The ISI may use this as an opportunity to ramp up terror activity with the help of the AQIS along the India-Bangladesh border.

In Bangladesh, the ISI has been encouraging Al Qaeda to work closely with other terror groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and Ansarullah Bangla Team. What is worse is that the interim head of the caretaker government, Muhammad Yunus, had turned a complete blind eye, as a result of which all these groups have a free run in Bangladesh.

--IANS

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