Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a new message entitled, “Don’t Forget Kashmir.” He criticizes the Pakistani Army and intelligence services at length, saying they can’t be trusted to support the jihad against Indian forces. He also calls upon Muslim scholars to explain that it is “individual duty” to support the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate.
CENTCOM says the U.S. targeted a group of al Qaeda operatives in Syria who were “responsible for plotting external attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.” According to jihadists online, the operatives belonged to Hurras al-Din (the “Guardians of Religion” organization).
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), an al Qaeda-affiliated group, has released a series of images showing a large number of fighters preparing for battle in Syria. The TIP has been a key jihadist group within the insurgency for years.
Asim Umar, a senior al Qaeda official, has released a statement praising the Taliban’s “victory” in Afghanistan over the US. He also criticizes ISIS for dividing the jihadists’ ranks, praying that Allah ends the “fitnah.”
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent’s spokesman has released a glowing eulogy for Zakir Musa, who led Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) until his death in May. AQIS has also released a video calling on jihadis to join its cause in Kashmir. And AGH has named Musa’s successor.
The defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was neither final nor decisive, and policymakers should heed the War on Terror’s lessons to ensure the West doesn’t squander this advantage and enable ISIS, or its copycats and successor groups, to rally.
Indian forces have killed Zakir Musa, who led the al Qaeda-linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH). Musa and his men have attempted to poach from Pakistani-backed jihadist groups, while also competing with an upstart Islamic State presence. Musa’s motto was “Sharia or Martyrdom.”
Although John Walker Lindh is commonly known as the “American Taliban,” he was actually trained by al Qaeda and belonged to Osama bin Laden’s pro-Taliban fighting force.
