US blacklists al Qaeda’s S Asia branch, leader
State Department declares Indian-born Asim Umar, a 'specially designated global terrorist'
This still image from video obtained on October 26, 2012 courtesy of the Site Intelligence Group shows Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri speaking in a video, from an undisclosed location, released by Al-Qaedas media arm, as-Sahab, and titled "Zawahiri Calls for Continuing Egyptian Revolution, Questions Morsi." Zawahiri has urged Egyptians to restart their revolution to press for Islamic law and called on Muslims to kidnap Westerners, the SITE Intelligence Group said Friday. PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON:
The United States on Thursday added al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), a regional branch of the global extremist network, to its terror blacklist on Thursday.
The State Department designated AQIS a “foreign terrorist organisation” and its leader, Indian-born Asim Umar, a “specially designated global terrorist.”
Al Qaeda, the militant movement founded by the late Osama bin Laden, has long been a banned group. Bin Laden’s successor, Egyptian ideologue Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced the formation of AQIS in September 2014 to carry the group’s fight to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Under the new designation, if investigators tie any assets or property under US jurisdiction to the group or its leader, they will be frozen. US citizens are forbidden from having any dealings with the group. AFP
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2016.
The United States on Thursday added al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), a regional branch of the global extremist network, to its terror blacklist on Thursday.
The State Department designated AQIS a “foreign terrorist organisation” and its leader, Indian-born Asim Umar, a “specially designated global terrorist.”
Al Qaeda, the militant movement founded by the late Osama bin Laden, has long been a banned group. Bin Laden’s successor, Egyptian ideologue Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced the formation of AQIS in September 2014 to carry the group’s fight to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Under the new designation, if investigators tie any assets or property under US jurisdiction to the group or its leader, they will be frozen. US citizens are forbidden from having any dealings with the group. AFP
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2016.