India has issued a security alert in several states after an
announcement by al-Qaeda of the formation of an Indian branch of the group.
In a video message, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said
"al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" would "raise the flag of
jihad" across South Asia.
In the 55-minute video posted online, Zawahiri pledged
renewed loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
Correspondents say this is an apparent snub to Islamic State
(IS) militants.
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh met senior intelligence
officials to discuss new security measures and to brief the prime minister.
India's intelligence and security services are studying the
Zawahiri announcement video, which experts said appeared to be a reaction to
IS's growing dominance.
Zawahiri said "al-Qaeda in the Indian
Subcontinent" would be good news for Muslims in Myanmar (Burma),
Bangladesh and in the Indian states of Assam, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir,
where they would be rescued from injustice and oppression.
A BBC correspondent in Delhi says although al-Qaeda has no
presence on the ground in India, there is concern that it is trying to reach
out to disaffected Muslim youths, especially in Kashmir and Gujarat.
Islamic militant groups operating in India are mostly
connected to Kashmiri separatists and have links, tenuous at best, to al-Qaeda
via Pakistan-based groups.
It is not surprising that Zawahiri speaks of Kashmir,
Gujarat and Assam - three states where Muslims have been the victims of either
anti-insurgency operations or religious riots, our correspondent adds.
"In the wake of this al-Qaeda video, we will be on a
higher alert. We will work closely with the central government to tackle any
threat posed to the state," SK Nanda, the top official in Gujarat's home
department , told Reuters news agency.
A security source told AFP news agency Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar were also on heightened alert.
Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, has a long
history of violence between separatists and security forces, and has tens of
thousands of troops stationed there.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says Zawahiri's
announcement was not entirely unexpected.
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and some allied Punjabi militant
groups have long debated the Ghazwa-e-Hind, or the battle for India, which they
say was foretold by the Prophet Mohammad.
The real identity of Asim Umar, who Mr Zawahiri has named as
the operational commander of the new group, is not known.
But there is speculation that a Punjabi militant commander
by that name has been based for several years in the town of Miranshah, a
former militant stronghold Pakistani tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Asim Umar is said to have set up his own group in Miranshah
after spending several years in Kashmir-focused groups such as Harkatul
Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad. He wrote several books on jihad (holy war) and
religious ideology, and was considered close to the al-Qaeda leadership in
Miranshah, BBC correspondents say.
Analysis, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said
it was always going to be a challenge for Osama Bin Laden's
successor to match his iconic status and maintain al-Qaeda as the most powerful
jihadist group in the world.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the nominal leader of al-Qaeda, is a
63-year-old former Egyptian eye surgeon said to be long on words and short on
charm.
For over a decade he has dodged drone strikes and hit squads
by hiding out in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
But apart from issuing occasionally long-winded treatises
and videos, his critics say he has allowed al-Qaeda to wither while Islamic
State (IS) has grown into everything al-Qaeda tried - and failed - to be.
While al-Qaeda's remaining leaders hide away in farms and
flats in Pakistan, IS has seized and held actual territory.
It has a de facto capital, Raqqa, a disciplined command
structure, an estimated $2bn (£1.2bn) war chest.
It has the world's attention and despite its sadistic
atrocities, it is enjoying a surge in recruitment that Zawahiri could only
dream about.
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