Al-Qaida asks Indians to launch lone-wolf operations in country

TIL Desk/World/New Delhi-The al-Qaida on Sunday asked Indian Muslims to carry out lone-wolf attacks in the country on the lines of the strikes in Europe The head of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Asim Umar, issued a statement “inciting Indian Muslims to rise up and to follow the example of lone wolves in Europe and kill administrative and police officers in India”.

Al-Qaida has been making attempts for the past two years to recruit Indians for its operations in the region but has struggled so far. Incidentally, Umar’s exhortation to Indians Muslims to carry out attacks comes four days after the US state department designated AQIS as a “foreign terrorist organisation” and added Umar to the list of “global terrorists”.

The statement, tracked by US-based SITE Intelligence Group, has made intelligence agencies sit up as both al-Qaida and Islamic State (IS) are making increased efforts to recruit Indians and carry out attacks in the country. A counter-terrorism official told that the “situation was grim”. “Especially, lone-wolf attacks, which have lately being carried out in Europe and other places, are a cause of concern,” he said.