Al Qaeda has formed a new branch in India and surrounding nations. The branch, Qaedat al-Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent, was formed of Afghan Taliban and mujahideen in the region, and was years in the making, according to al Qaeda. The group has the stated purpose of defending the faithful in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujurat, Ahmedabad and Kashmir. Its leaders, high level al Qaeda members, have also been vocal about targeting the United States.
“A new branch of al-Qaeda was established and is 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,” said Ayman al Zawahiri, a leader of the group, in the video released Wednesday.
“This entity was not established today,” said Zawahiri, “but it is the fruit of a blessed effort for more than two years to gather the mujahideen in the Indian subcontinent into a single entity to be with the main group, Qaedat al-Jihad, from the soldiers of the Islamic Emirate and its triumphant emir, Allah permitting, Emir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid.”
“It is an entity that was formed to promulgate the call of the reviving imam Sheikh Usama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy on him, to call the Ummah to unite round the word of Tawhid [monotheism], to wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty, and to revive its Caliphate.”
The branch will be active in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir, according to the group’s recent video.
The leaders of the new branch include, in addition to Zawahiri, Asim Umar, the group’s emir, and Usama Mahmoud, the group’s spokesman. Zawahiri and the group ultimately report to Mullah Omar. Zawahiri renewed his oath of allegiance to Omar last July.
Umar was previously a commander of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, a group with close ties to al Queda. Umar called on Indian Muslims to wage “global jihad to give a final push to the collapsing edifice of America” in July of 2013.
By Day Blakely Donaldson
Translations of the video courtesy of SITE intelligence group.