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Global jihadi network Al Qaeda on Thursday officially announced the establishment of its unit in Jammu and Kashmir, naming former Hizbul Mujahideen militant Zakir Musa as its chief in the troubled state. The new cell has been named Ansar Ghawzat-ul-Hind.
The announcement was made by the Global Islamic Media Front, a media wing of Al Qaeda and its allied jihadist groups across the world. The Al Qaeda online propaganda wing disseminated a statement on social media, declaring Musa, a close aide of slain militant commander Burhan Wani, as its leader in Kashmir.
Here is the statement:
“For this goal, a new movement of jihad has been founded by the companions of Wani under the leadership of Zakir Musa,” the statement said.
Though there have been speculations earlier that Al Qaeda was making inroads in Kashmir, this is the first official confirmation from the terror network about its presence in the state.
Though political separatist leaders and militant commanders have been denying a link between Kashmir militancy and jihadi movements like Al Qaeda and Islamic State but Musa, who succeeded Wani after his July 2016 killing, in an April video message made his intentions clear.
Musa asked Kashmiris not to “fall for nationalism” as it was a sin in Islam. He said in a statement:
The 23-year-old militant also threatened to kill Hurriyat leaders if they spoke for nationalism and deny that the struggle in Kashmir was for the establishment of strict Islamic code.
The Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest group of local militants, condemned his statement saying they have nothing to do with his Islamist assertions. Musa then ended his association with the outfit on 13 May.
Interestingly, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Syed Salahuddin, who is based in Pakistan, released a video statement on Wednesday urging Kashmiris “not to join any global jihadi movement”.
Salahuddin, in a five-minute video clip, said:
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