ISIS issues warning to carry out terror attacks in India, names new 'Emir' for Bengal

Days after the deadly Easter Sunday blasts in neighbouring Sri Lanka, a news security threat has emerged for India. Though the intelligence inputs have time now and time again hinted at the ISIS footprints in the Indian Subcontinent, for the first time the dreaded group has issued a direct warning to carry out terror attacks in India. According to a report by Times of India, the ISIS has named a new ‘Emir’ for Bengal. The report states that one Abu Muhammed al-Bengali has been appointed as new ‘emir’ for ISIS in the region.

“If you think you have silenced the soldiers of the Khilafa in Bengal and Hind and you are certain about that then listen we men are never to be silenced… Thirst for revenge is never faded away (sic),” the report quoted the ISIS poster as saying.

The development comes just two days after a new propaganda video of ISIS’ elusive chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi surfaced online.  "The battle for Baghouz is over," he said, sitting cross-legged on a cushion and addressing three men whose faces have been blurred.

In the 18-minute video, titled "In the Hospitality of the Emir of the Believers," Baghdadi was seen sitting alongside three other ISIS members whose faces are blurred, next to a rifle and ammunition belt. He praised the recent terror attacks in Sri Lanka, which targeted churches and hotels and left more than 250 people dead, calling it "revenge" for Baghouz — the small Syrian village where Isis made its last stand. 

The ISIS claimed the attacks, but the government has blamed local Islamist extremist group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) for the attacks. Sri Lanka on Saturday banned the NTJ and a splinter group linked to the ISIS.

A total of 106 suspects, including a Tamil medium teacher and a school principal, have been arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday blasts.

According to Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry, the number of foreign nationals who have been identified as killed remained at 40, including 11 from India.

On March 22, President Donald Trump announced that all ISIS-held territory in Syria has been eliminated, though officials said sporadic fighting continued on the ground between coalition forces and the group's holdouts.