Al Qaeda’s recent activities point to dangers closer home. India must exercise caution

All recent activities of the AQ and AQIS, especially those focussed on Kashmir, suggest that the group is making all-out efforts to recruit cadres from not just within Kashmir but, using the issue of Kashmir, from across South Asia.

India-born chief of Qaeda arm killed in US-Afghan raid

Asim Umar, the chief of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). He was killed in a US-Afghan rain on a Taliban compound in Helmand on September 23.

On October 8, the Afghan Intelligence, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), declared that the chief of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Asim Umar, had been killed in a US-Afghan raid on a Taliban compound in Helmand on September 23. Till date, the AQIS official media or their known social media accounts have neither confirmed nor accepted this claim. Taliban termed the report as “fabricated propaganda” making no comment on AQIS or Umar. It is highly likely that Umar, India born, has been killed. However, his death is not going to halt concerted efforts by AQ/AQIS network to re-calibrate its activities in South Asia, especially in India.