Terror outfits regrouping
Rajeev Sharma
Terror outfits grow,
change, evolve and
mutate. A similar
mutation is noticeable
now with respect to
two of the most
dreaded terrorist organizations:
Al Qaeda and Islamic State. In
these Coronavirus times, the two
are trying to write a new
template.
Al Qaeda and Islamic State are
taking advantage of the
coronavirus pandemic that has
gripped 210 countries and
territories of the world to rebuild
themselves. As the governments
across the world are busy fighting
a more immediate, deadlier and
invisible enemy, these two terror
outfits are rearing their heads in
various parts of the world and
regrouping and recharging.
India has quite a task on its
hands as among the many
countries where these two outfits
have become active, three
countries are in India's immediate
neighbourhood: Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Maldives. In the first
two ( Afghanistan and Pakistan )
Al Qaida has become active while
in the third (Maldives) the Islamic
State has surfaced and even made
a maiden claim for its attack.
Al Qaeda's activities in Af-Pak
region were put into fifth gear
from the beginning of March
when the coronavirus had started
expanding throughout the world after China declared a complete
lockdown of its Wuhan city from
where the virus had emanated
sometime in December 2019.
Thabat, an Al Qaeda-affiliated
media outfit, published
infographics and images
highlighting the terrorist outfits'
operations worldwide. The
publicity carpet bombing made it
clear that the prime focus
countries of the Al Qaeda's new
push were: Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Somalia,
Kenya, Mali, Niger and Burkina
Faso.
India may ignore other
countries but not Afghanistan and
Pakistan. The biggest thrust area
of Al Qaeda is Afghanistan, where
according to Thabat, the outfit
conducted 343 operations in
which 520 people were killed
over 200 injured, destroyed 35
armoured vehicles, apart from
seizing seven such vehicles, and
detonated two car bombs. These
figures are from March 1 to March
2, according to Thabat, which
gives one more timeline of March
26-April 2 wherein the operations
picked up steam – 88 operations,
200 killed, over 50 injured and
eight car bombs detonated.
On 16 April, 2020, Al Naba, the
weekly newsletter of Islamic
State, claimed responsibility for
Islamic State's first ever attack in
Maldives. This was the first time
ever when Islamic State had
openly claimed responsibility for
its attack in Maldives, thus
conveying its presence in India's
backyard.
It was not the outfit's first
operation in the archipelago.
Earlier this year, three alleged
Islamic State operatives were
arrested after stabbing two
Chinese nationals and one
Australian citizen in Hulhumale
island of Maldives. Though a local
cell had acknowledged claim of
this attack on behalf of IS, that
claim was never officially
corroborated by IS.
Al Qaeda posing a threat to
India is a bogey that has been
raised several times in past few
years but every time it proved to
be a crying wolf experience. But
this time, the geopolitical
scenario in the Af-Pak region is
starkly different with American-
NATO forces drawdown from
Afghanistan a distinct reality after
the US-Taliban pact. If Al Qaeda is
able to cement its position in
One must not forget
that India's worst
period in terms of
cross-border terrorism
was from 1996 to 2001
when Taliban was
ruling Afghanistan.
Afghanistan, we know what great
harm it can unleash on India by
ganging up with the Taliban and
Pakistan's secret service Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI).
One must not forget that
India's worst period in terms of
cross-border terrorism was from
1996 to 2001 when Taliban was
ruling Afghanistan.
Similarly, the Islamic State
developing its base in Maldives, a small Indian Ocean archipelago
with a population of just four
lakh, can cause a big headache to
India, considering Maldives'
geographical proximity with
Indian southern states,
particularly Kerala.
(The author is a strategic
analyst and columnist)