130 al-Qaeda militants from India, B'desh trained in Pakistan, bound for Afghanistan

The security establishment is now trying to identify people from India who have joined the al-Qaeda terror network in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The intelligence agencies also said that these 130 al-Qaeda-trained members could carry out coordinated attacks along with the Haqqani Network in the Af-Pak region. The Haqqani Network is an Afghan terror group and considered an offshoot of the Taliban with links to al-Qaeda.

In a report, the intelligence agencies said: "Approximately 130 al-Qaeda fighters belonging to India and Bangladesh have graduated after training from al-Qaeda's military centre located at Miranshah in North Waziristan in Pakistan on October 30. The graduates are likely to be shifted to Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Kunar, Logar, Nuristan and Kabul provinces to carry out coordinated attacks along with Haqqani Network fighters."

Last year, a United Nation report had stated that there are 150-200 members of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The 26th Report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said in the report that there are an estimated 400-600 al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

The report also identified areas like Nirmuz, Helmand and Kandahar in Afghanistan where the AQIS was working under the Taliban.

The report said, "The current leader of AQIS is Osama Mahmood, who succeeded the late Asim Umar. AQIS is planning retaliation operations in the region to avenge the death of its late leader."

The report added that al-Qaeda remains active on social media, using platforms and messaging applications to share information and communicate with followers for the purposes of recruitment, planning and fundraising. (IANS)

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