38 5 august 2019n the night of July 9th, the global terrorist or-
ganisation Al-Qaeda released a video of its chief
Ayman al-Zawahiri. in the message, titled ‘Don’t
forget Kashmir’, Zawahiri called for terrorist
groups in Kashmir to “single-mindedly focus on
inflicting unrelenting blows on the indian Army
and government so that the indian economy bleeds and that
india suffers sustained losses in manpower and equipment.”
terming the “fight in Kashmir” as part of the worldwide Muslim
community’s “Jihad against a vast array of forces”, he called upon
“scholars” to clearly state that the “jihad” in Kashmir (and other
parts of the world) is an individual obligation on all Muslims. he
also called Pakistan’s army and government “toadies of America”,
and cautioned terrorists not to fall into their trap.
Around the same time, the chief of Ansar ghazwatul hind,
al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Kashmir, hameed Lelhari, issued a state-
ment as well. he urged cooperation among terrorist organisa-
tions working in the state and called for the formation of a shura
(council) to take collective decisions regarding military actions
against the indian state. the Ansar was raised by Zawahiri’s close
associate, Asim Umar, who has earlier been with other jihadi
organisations, including the tehreek-e-taliban. Zawahiri had
himself announced the launch of Al-Qaeda in the indian Sub-
continent in 2014.
Lelhari was appointed Ansar’s chief after the death of its ear-
lier head, Zakir Musa, in May this year. Musa was close to hizbul
commander Burhan Wani. Musa succeeded him after his death
in 2016, but soon distanced himself from the organisation’s pro-
Pakistan stance. in an audio recording released in 2017, he urged
that fighting in Kashmir should only serve the cause of islam and
would not be for a nation. “Sharia ya shahaadat (islamic rule or
martyrdom),” he had said. When he died in an encounter withthe police, his men believed that the tipoff to security forces may
have come from the hizbul itself.
even as security agencies are trying to ascertain how Zawahi-
ri’s message could affect insurgency in Kashmir, they are keeping
a close eye on the fight that has now begun between pro-islamic
State (iS) groups and pro-Pakistan groups like hizbul and Lashkar.
the pro-Pakistan groups in Kashmir have a support system in
the Valley currently that the likes of Ansar and the newly formed
islamic State of the hind Province (iShP) lack. According to intel-
ligence agencies, Pakistan has also recently provided big funds
to Jaish. But these organisations are under the Pakistan Army’s
thumb and are now beginning to feel that the pro-iS groups may
overthrow them as the main fighting force in Kashmir.
According to a senior police officer in Kashmir, Lelhari’s call
for a militant council is seen by the hizbul as an attempt to eclipse
the United Jihad Council, an umbrella group of terrorist organisa-
tions, led by the hizbul chief, Syed Salahuddin.
Days before Lelhari’s statement, Adil Ahmed Dass, a terror-
ist associated with the iShP was found dead on June 27th in an
orchard in South Kashmir. it turned out that he was killed by
Lashkar and hizbul terrorists after he deserted Lashkar with his
weapon and joined the iShP. his brother Musaib said that they
had heard of his death on June 26th itself, but it was only the next
morning that the army took him to the spot. Musaib said they also
found an injured Lashkar terrorist, Arif hussain, nearby. “i spat
at him and asked him why they had killed my brother,” he said.
Arif, according to Musaib, told him that it was a hizbul militant
Zubair Wani who had killed Adil Dass.
two days later, an iShP spokesperson Khateeb released a video
statement, blaming hizbul and Lashkar. he said that their cadre
had laid a trap for Dass on the pretext of swearing allegiance to iS
chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and he was shot by them as he kneltThe BaTTle
for Turf
Pro-Pakistan terror groups in Kashmir are at
war with pan-Islamic jihadi groups. Security
agencies don’t know which way it will go
By Rahul PandIta
terroro