In a video released by al Qaeda's media arm, As-Sehbab, the group's chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri announced the creation of "Qaedat al-Jihad."
Chief of al Qaeda's Shariah Committee for Pakistan, Asim Umar, will be the leader of the new branch. Ustad Usama Mahmoud will be the branch's spokesperson.
The focus of the new branch is belived to be on Burma, Bangladesh, Assam (India), Ahmadabad (India) and Kashmir.
Zawahiri said the new force would "crush the artificial borders" dividing Muslim populations in the region.
"This entity was not established today but is the fruit of a blessed effort of more than two years to gather the mujahedeen in the Indian sub-continent into a single entity," he said in a video partly in his native Arabic and partly in Urdu.
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@Bakhtiyar Ghazi Khan:
At least Modi is not carpet bombing Muslims like in FATA. How ironical, you care about a building demolished 25 years ago, but not about 1 Million homeless Muslims and thousands dead under Pakistani carpet bombing.
How convenient for Modi. Now he can target Indian Muslims with impunity.
@Shaukat Ali: First "bring" freedom to your own minorities.
Ayman need to understand how Islam came to Egypt, who financed Islamic Brotherhood, Mujs who fought Soviet's in Afghanistan and who created and funded Pakistan's army if not Pakistan. Egypt was Islamized by brutes in mere 15 years, Persia in 40 years (some Persians had to run to India to keep their Zoroastrian religion and culture alive). Angloes know a lot more than Muslims do about their own history and Islam. That is why Angloe's have been very successful in using Islam as weapon of mass destruction of distant natives.
@FAZ: But they took my comment off because it was the truth that you can not face. In fact in time you will see how we deal with your people and put you in your place. The clock is ticking and the world is angry. Say and do what you like for your day is up soon.
@Shaukat Ali: "With their help and help of ISIS we will free the untouchables in India and bring them freedom."
"Untouchables"? Untouchability has been illegal from the day our constitution came out on Jan 26, 1950. Not only that there is an affirmative action for all those who had suffered this in the past in terms of reservation in engineering and medical colleges, governmet jobs, promotions in government jobs and so on.
They are now called 'Dalit' or disadvantaged and Mayawati, herself a Dalit even became CM of UP (population size is coparable to Pakistan) couple of times. So do not worry about Indians. Worry about HAzaras, Ahmadis, Hindus and Christian Pakistanis.
Alqaida is very clever. It reacts according to needs and objectives of USA.
Your attempt to establish a 'BRANCH' in India will only lead to complete closure of business on earth.
@Sunil: Seriously ET. You allow this arrogant and ignorant SOB to comment?
Mashallah! With their help and help of ISIS we will free the untouchables in India and bring them freedom.
This is pakistan's answer to those Indians who say Pakistanis don't and can't lead multinational organizations like Indians to globally.
Thank you Pakistan
@BlackHat: How about Pindi? Birds of a feather flock together.
We need fundamentalists like RSS which starts prayers with saying whole world is a family. and Everybody be happy, Peace Prevails in world,
The way this news is presented, it sounds like a businessman has opened up their branch in the region (oh wait)
New Branch in india..new opportunities but not for all..
New branch in India.....Ohh new opportunities but not for all.. only for few mu....
And their head quarters will be at Attock?
Haha..he is announcing it as if announcing an opening a friendly neighbourhood GAP store.:-)
Now suddenly it becomes the Indian subcontinent! Otherwise it is South Asia.
ET, I have recently begun to doubt your journalistic standards.
@Alam Islamic State is not foolish enough to attack Israel. Looks like you have no idea about how powerful Israel's military is. They can take on the entire Arab world simultaneously and not even break sweat. They will crush the ISIS movement if they dare attack them. Knowing these Islamic movements they only attack Israel verbally. They are smart enough to know where they stand vis-a-vis Israel.
These "leaders" suffer from serious delusions. Seems like they were asleep for 1000 years and just woke up. They are challenging the west and all they have is a knife in a gunfight. Somebody should tell him about Saddam's "elite" Republican Army and what happened to it in the 1990 Gulf War. Saddam promised the "Mother of All Battles". They didn't even leave their trenches and were laid low by an invisible enemy with his stealth bombers.
Is this S.O. a Rat B. still alive? I thought living underground for so long he would have rotted away by now! Oh well, he will stick his head out one of these days from his rat hole and a drone will deliver us from this evil.
How can Pakistan's intelligence service allow this to happen? This is a real threat to Pakistan's neighbour. Since the names of proposed leaders of this al Qaeda are known can't they be arrested. This event shows that Pakistan does not want to be India's friend but wants to remain its enemy. This call for stern action by India. Also none of the Pakistani newspapers have reported the killings of US journalists Foley and Sotloff which shows where Pakistan's and its Muslim citizens' sympathies lie.
Ayman instead of having your gang of murders setup a base in Indian sub-contenent, why not setup a base in the Indian Ocean where your band of merry men can drown themselves without killing innocent people and yet can get their 72 virgins, I say. Go for it.
He seems ready to eat grass for one thousand years.
These idiots have nothing better to do? Leave us alone!
Nice to a franchise in our geography.
Thank God we have Modi as PM and Ajit Doval as NSA. They have the knowledge and courage to do what is necessary to protect Indians including Indian Muslim families who would definitely not want their young sons to be involved in such crap.
The previous weak PM and weaker home minister would have been too scared to take decisive action on a couple of rotten eggs not realizing how many decent Muslim families would want any such sleeper cell to be shut down so that their young sons are not lured into that
Alqaida is very clever. When USA needs alqaida,0it immediately reacts according to american policies.
We have the best leadership to face these barbarians after a thousand years.
Is this some new ISI initiative? To give the younger generation of illiterate Pakistanis an outlet to waste their lives on. So that they don't join TTP and other numerous terrorist groups fighting Pakistani state. How can ISI still pretend that they don't have Al Zawahari in a safe house somewhere??? This is only going to hurt Pakistan further.
Are there any takers out there who want to wedge a bet that Asim Umar will not be around same time next year? Sadly he is a Pakistani.
Its like sending their envoys or ambassadors or terror diplomats. Do not know how to react.
Since Al-qaeda lives in a cave, they seem to not know who is Prime minister of India now. Modi has strictly no non-sense attitude and when it comes to terrorism he is has ruthless has a politician can be. Better watch out cavemen.
Oh I forgot they are still alive. Their brothers in Iraq and Syria have left no stone unturned to defame Islam with the help of Israel. Although they are at the borders of Israel they have refused to attack Israel.
This is a very welcome development!