Islamic Fundamentalism in South Asia

[Bill Moore]

People tend to get distracted by the shinny objective in the headlines, which today is the Islamic State, but Al-Qaeda is still alive and regrouping slowly. Beyond their presence in the Middle East, Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent should be a concern for their potential to destabilize a strategically important region, perhaps on a scale that exceeds the Middle East. It is generally best to be proactive and prevent the larger crisis if you can see it coming, we saw the risk of inaction by failing to go after Al-Qaeda in the 1990s, and failing to go after Al-Shabab when they were emerging.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...g?ocid=UE07DHP

An offshoot of Al Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan

But the formation of AQIS is again allowing al-Qaeda to tap into Karachi’s wealth and network of madrassas in search of recruits and technical expertise — and sparking deadly clashes with Pakistani security forces.

In Karachi, AQIS has divided itself into three operational segments — recruitment, financial and tactical — made up of four- to six-person cells.

“What still makes al-Qaeda different and more dangerous from other militant groups is a disciplined management system,” said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a Peshawar-based militancy expert. “Another dangerous thing is they are always looking to penetrate into the armed forces looking for sympathy.”

“Al-Qaeda is just an umbrella, and the top of the pyramid is what is controlling and enduring,” he said. “They don’t have to put much effort into Pakistan because all they have to do is pick up all these existing, bloodthirsty splinter organizations and they have a ready-made killing machine.”

http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpag...ttacks-1234156

Bangladesh saw rise in attacks
Says US country report on terrorism 2015

Transnational groups such as ISIL and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed several attacks in Bangladesh, targeting foreigners, religious minorities, police, secular bloggers and publishers, stated the report.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/52544561.cms

AQIS releases message telling their militants not to harm innocent Muslims and severe their link with the people. Will they eventually out compete with IS for influence in the region?

[davidbfpo]

On a quick scan of CTC's Sentinel Bangladesh has a bigger problem than India, it is a moot point where Pakistan sits:https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/how-b...-islamic-state

I remain puzzled that India's Muslims appear not to have responded to the call for the violent Jihad; as have nearly all Muslims - except in a few places. There are IIRC more Maoist fighters in India that jihadist insurgents.

[davidbfpo]

I have re-opened this thread to add the following post. The title was Al Qaeda in India's Massive Fail, given posts cover AQ and IS I have changed it to AQ and IS in India: a failure so far.

[davidbfpo]

I had spotted a news item on the seizure of equipment in India in India after Xmas, partly as the weapons appeared odd. Missed it was an operation ti disrupt an IS plot.

There are many Indian reports on the action taken, none in the Western press I could quickly see. The link is to an Indian news site and appears to repeat the official statement and the photo shows the weapons found.
Link:https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...OehdySGwK.html

The second link is to a commentary by an Indian SME, he opens with:

By unearthing ‘terror mastermind’ Mufti Suhail’s conspiracy, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has disproved Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s assertion, made on May 23, 2016, that there was “no threat to India from the Islamic State (IS) as people of the Muslim community are against the IS”. Rajnath Singh had repeated this argument on March 15, 2018, saying that the IS would have no impact on India. He should have known that the IS is not supported even in Sunni-majority Arab areas, not to speak of Muslims globally.

Link:https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/co...is/709763.html