ISIS threatens to attack India in its latest video

May 20, 2016: A 22-minute video released on Friday has sounded alarm in the Indian subcontinent with a well known Indian face of Abu Amir al-Hindi alias Fahad Shaikh of Maharashtra among the group declaring an attack on India in the near future.

As the Indian Intelligence services battle with already established terror groups like the Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba, this acts as a deadly overcast looming over the region. The intelligence has been trying to trace the exact number of fighters recruited by the ISIS from the country and till now, 23 remains the identified number.

"In this land you get to have hatred for the kuffar (disbelievers). In this land you get to perform jihad," said an Indian fighter identified as Abu Salman al-Hindi, in the video. While the IS fighters are seen to be mocking Indian Muslims for their living in harmony with a majority Hindu population, they are also seen to be urging them to participate in the bigger cause of 'jihad' by supporting the organization.

The chilling words come at a time when increasing influence of the fighters is seen to be creating ripples in Bangladesh. Local terrorist factions connected to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) are reportedly seeking intervention from the jihadist force to launch "guerrilla attacks inside India" with the help of recruits in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Incidentally, a report by the Indian intelligence marks a trend shift in the subcontinent as more and more radicalized Muslim youth who earlier joined Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban, are now gravitating towards their new jihadist-leaning favourite – the Islamic State. "If IS does strengthen its grip and 'liberates' new territories, its following among Indian youth may pose a threat," warned a senior official.

The video goes on to inform that its (ISIS') Indian members would be returning to avenge the demolition of Babri and the Godhra riots. A section of the film also mentions Kashmir. With a severe warning that Hindus are on a mission to convert the Indian Muslims, the video ends on an oath by its Indian recruits who swear allegiance to the organization and echo that they would return and carry out attacks in the country.

-Report prepared by Maariyah Siddiquee

Related Articles:

• Crisis in Iraq: Troops and Protesters Clash at Green Zone in Baghdad
• ISIS and the Secret "Sykes-Picot" Agreement
• New President is hoped to thwart emergence of ISIS in Phillipines