Al Qaeda chief exhorts 'Mujahideen in Kashmir' to inflict 'unrelenting blows' on Indian Army

In a new video, Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued a special terror message for "Mujahideen in Kashmir". Titled ‘Don’t Forget Kashmir’, the video has Zawahiri exposed Pakistan and spoke extensively about Islamabad’s role in cross-border terrorism, especially in Kashmir. "(I am) of the view that the Mujahideen in Kashmir - at this stage at least- should single-mindedly focus on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian Army and government, so as to bleed the Indian economy and make India suffer sustained losses in manpower and equipment," Zawahiri said. The video was released by Al Qaeda’s media wing, said the Foundation for Defence of Democracies’ Long War Journal.

“All the Pakistani Army and government are interested in is exploiting the mujahideen for specific political objectives, only to dump or persecute them later," Zawahiri added. The Al Qaeda chief said that the terrorists must not target mosques and public areas in Kashmir. “You (the scholars) must clearly state that supporting the jihad in Kashmir, the Philippines, Chechnya, Central Asia, Iraq, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia, the Islamic Maghreb and Turkistan is an individual obligation on all Muslims, until sufficient strength is achieved to expel the disbelieving occupier from Muslim lands," he said.

However, in the video, Zawahiri didn’t mention Zakir Musa, the Al Qaeda’s India chief who was gunned down by the Indian security personnel in Kashmir. It was in 2014, when the ISIS and Al Qaeda flags made debut protests in Kashmir. Masked men were seen after the Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at Eidgah in sensitive old city and waving black flags and banners of ISIS and Al Qaeda with Kalima (the first basic fundamental of Islam) inscribed on them.