NEW DELHI: Terror outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is preparing to launch guerrilla attacks inside India with the help of existing local modules.
The outfit’s mouthpiece Dabiq, in its latest issue, said Shaykh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif, the so-called Amir of ISIS in Bangladesh, is involved in radicalisation and recruiting terrorists for jihad in India, Pakistan and Myanmar.
ISIS hopes to get help from ‘Wilayat Khurasan’, its offshoot in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Khurasan has links with the Pakistan establishment and this could be a major cause of concern for Indian security agencies.
“Pakistan is sheltering Indian Mujahideen terrorists and could use the network to carry out terror attacks in India using IS name. The IS as a separate entity has no presence or operatives or military strength in the region to carry out attacks. It appears to be propaganda of the terror group purely for indoctrination and radicalisation,” a senior intelligence officer said.
The IS’s Indian Mujahideen (IM) link is Shafi Armar alias Yusuf Al Hindi who hails from the coastal town of Bhatkal in Karnataka and is said to have joined IM with his brother Sultan Armar who later joined al-Qaeda and subsequently started working for IS. Armar, security agencies believe, is responsible for indoctrination of many gullible youths.
Ibrahim al-Hanif, however, warned IS’s local unit in Bangladesh may target Hindus and other minorities in mass numbers to create polarisation.
In the last few years, the IS propagandists claimed several terror attacks, including one an Italian aid worker, a Japanese agriculturalist and most recently an online activist, in Bangladesh.
The IS magazine has also printed a photograph showing around a dozen terrorists in Bangladesh, who pledged allegiance to IS and its chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. According to a source, the photo appears to be of sympathisers and not battle-hardened terrorists.
Terror’s grip
■ IS is preparing to launch guerrilla attacks inside India with the help of existing local modules
■ The outfit’s mouthpiece said the so-called amir of IS in Bangladesh is involved in radicalisation and recruiting terrorists for jihad in India
■ IS hopes to get help from ‘Wilayat Khurasan’, its Afghan, Pak offshoots