Indian intelligence authenticates Al-Qaeda video

The Indian Intelligence Bureau has found a new video in which al-Qaeda threatened to carry out a campaign in the country to be authentic in its initial assessment, the Times of India reported.

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri Wednesday declared in the video, which was found in online militant forums by the SITE terrorism monitoring group, that the global Islamist extremist movement has launched a new branch.

The Indian Home Ministry has issued an alert and Home Minister Rajnath Singh met with top security officials in response to the threats.

In the video, Zawahri said the new force would “crush the artificial borders” dividing Muslim populations in the region.

He added that “Qaedat al-Jihad” would take the fight to India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

“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.

Experts cited by The Indian Express say that the Indian campaign comes at a time when the organization has seen reverses in the Middle East, as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria overruns the area.

According to the newspaper, the morphed organization is named Jamaat Qaidat al-jihad fi’shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya, or Organisation of The Base of Jihad in the Indian Sub-Continent. According to the newspaper, it has also released online manifestos written by Zawahiri, spokesperson Usama Mahmoud and organization chief Asim Umar.

Last year, Umar issued an appeal directed at Indian Muslims: “You who have ruled India for 800 years, you who lit the flame of the one true God in the darkness of polytheism: How can you remain in your slumber when the Muslims of the world are awakening?”