Former Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Musa has been named the chief of a new Al-Qaeda linked extremist group, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, in Kashmir, reported IANS on Friday. Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind said in a statement that a new jihadi movement has been founded by the companions of slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.
“After the martyrdom of heroic Mujahid Burhan Wani, the jihad in Kashmir has entered a stage of awakening as the Muslim nation of Kashmir has committed to carry the flag of jihad to repel the aggression of tyrant Indian invaders,” read the statement. “An important and detailed statement about Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind will be released by this media by the will of Allah.”
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid, however, said he had no report about Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind. “Frankly, this is underwhelming in its significance,” said Vaid, according to The Indian Express. “This breakaway group consists of perhaps half-a-dozen people, with few arms and sources of funding. He’s pretty much a dead man walking.”
Intelligence officials in New Delhi also do not see the announcement as a threat. “Al-Qaeda has no logistics chain or facilities across the Line of Control to feed units operating in Kashmir,” an unidentified official told The Indian Express.
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