130 Al Qaeda fighters from India, Bangladesh ready for attacks

َAn Indian intelligence report has alerted the security establishment about Al Qaeda fighters from India and Bangladesh getting ready to carry out strikes.

The report said that around 130 Al Qaeda leaders 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 Taliban with links to Al Qaeda.

“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, Pakistan on October 30. The graduates are likely to be shifted to Khost, Paktia, Pakitka, Kunar, Logar, Nuristan and Kabul provinces to carry out coordinated attacks along with Haqqani Network fighters,” the report said.

Last year, a United Nations’ report had stated that there are 150-200 members in Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent or 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 the areas — like Nirmuz, Helmand and Kandahar in Afghanistan — where the AQIS was working under Taliban.

The activities of AQIS have been under the lens of intelligence agencies in India with local modules and recruits active in the last few years within the country.

The Delhi Police claimed to have busted one such module earlier and filed a chargesheet in 2016 against 17 individuals for allegedly establishing an AQIS base in India.

The investigation also mentioned how some of the members are in Waziristan, Pakistan.