Al Qaeda launches India branch, India on alert
India’s Home Ministry has issued an all-India alert after Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group in a new tape released on September 4. In his first videotape in over a year, al Zawahiri says Al Qaeda has not forgotten injustices and oppressions suffered by Muslims “in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir”.
Calling the formation of the “Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” a glad tiding for Muslims in the region, Zawahiri added that the group will aim to “break all borders created by Britain in India” and “raise the flag of jihad” across the subcontinent.