Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. -Yahoo/Reuters
Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri has announced the formation of a new terror organization in India, sending Indian officials on high alert. Yahoo/Reuters. Officials believe the video announcement is authentic and are taking additional security steps. India has 175 million Muslims and a history of conflict between them and other religious and ethnic groups, including several acts of terrorism, but this is the first time that Al-Qaeda itself has claimed to be involved in the country. The announcement is seen by some as an indication of rivalry between Al-Qaeda and ISIS, which has overshadowed Al-Qaeda in recent months.
My Comment:
This seems like a desperate attempt by Al-Qaeda to stay relevant. I am sure their donors and volunteers have been diverted to ISIS after the stunning success they had this summer. With ISIS dominating the news and no recent terror attacks from core Al-Qaeda, they are fading into the background. This announcement won't do much except maybe convince some Muslim extremists in India to stay there. What Al-Qaeda needs to stay relevant is another major terror attack or to take over some territory like ISIS did. I don't think they are capable of either at this point.
Still, India needs to take these reports very seriously. They have some experience with these things, but the threat is real enough that they should take some extra steps. India has other problems though, so perhaps this will be on the back burner. They are having problems with China pressing their border and they have never gotten along well with Pakistan to the point where they occasionally exchange artillery. Hopefully these other problems won't prevent them from utterly destroying this new Al-Qaeda organization.
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