Within a few hours from US President Joe Biden announced the death of Al Qaeda Ayman Al-Zawahiri in the prourse drone strike, speculation that spin around a possible successor, with another Al Qaeda Egyptian figure, Mohammed Salahaldin Zidan, who used the assumption of the name Saif Saif, Mohammed, who used the assumption of the name Saif Saifed, Mohammed, who used the assumption of the name Saif Saifed Mohammed, who used the assumption of Saif Saif, Mohammed, who used the assumption of the name Saif Saifed Mohammed, who took the assumption of Saif Saif, Mohammed, , who entered the name Saif Saif, Al-Adel, who appeared as a candidate, according to security officials who monitored the region. (Also Read | what was revealed by the murder of al-zawahiri)
There is no clarity about Adel’s current whereabouts, which has been reportedly in Iran.The people quoted above also said that the death of Al-Zawahiri would achieve the morals of the supporters and cadres of the group in India but there were also concerns of fighters who might divert loyalty to the province of the Islamic-Khorasan State (ISKP).An official involved in tracking global terrorism and the activities of international terror groups, with the condition of anonymity, said: “Considering ISKP’s operational capabilities to carry out spectacular attacks, the possibility of the slope of the Al Qaeda ranking to Islamic countries guarantees serious attention.”
The Indian intelligence community continues to oversee the activities of Al Qaeda as Adel, a veteran field expert and former Lieutenant Colonel in Egyptian special forces, has pioneered a brave attack such as the bombing of the US Embassy in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Adel also fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan in 1980 -an and reportedly trained several hijackers involved in the 9/11 attack even though initially they had opposed the operation.
There is no official word about the death of Zawahari from the Indian government, who recently rebuilt diplomatic presence in Kabul.Nevertheless, Zawahiri’s death is likely to hamper regional affiliation al-Qaeda such as Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (Aqis) and Ansar Al-Islam (AAI), the official added.
The latest report on the UN sanction monitoring team in July this year concluded that Aqis reportedly had 180-400 fighters, especially from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan.Aqis fighters are also represented among the Taliban combat units. This affiliation was led by Osama Mehmood and his deputy Atif Yahya Ghour, and was present in several Afghan provinces.
The recent intelligence agencies have received input that Al Qaeda cadres in India are behind the propaganda campaign and efforts to rebuild the organization, especially after controversy about the statements made against the Prophet Mohammed by two former BJP spokespersons. Aqis had threatened in June to carry out attacks in several places, including Delhi, Mumbai, Up and Gujarat, in response to the statement by former BJP Nupur Sharma spokesman.
One of the last messages issued by al-Zawahiri is a video released in April this year, where he talks about the hijab controversy in Karnataka and asks Muslims in children to fight the attack on Islam “intellectually, using the media, and with weapons on the battlefield “. He also talked about Kashmir several times, including in July 2019, when he asked for “Mujahideen in Kashmir” to cause endless punch on Indian army and the government in Jammu and Kashmir.
After the takeover of the Taliban in Afghanistan last year, there was a concern in India that the power of the Al Qaeda would increase and trained fighters could be sent to India since the arms of the main battle of the Taliban, the Haqqani network, were behind some attacks on Indian Indian interests. Other officials said, “A very close relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda was proven from the fact that Al-Zawahiri was placed in a luxury Kabul environment. The close Al Qaeda-Taliban ties are truly contrary to Indian interests, especially in the background of the intention of Al Qaeda to target India. “
