New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) Al-Qaeda has been making rapid changes in recent times to its organisational structure, while also pushing its agenda hard with a major focus on India. The outfit, which faced severe losses after the death of Osama Bin Laden and the rise of the Islamic State, is on a complete rebranding spree of late.
The Intelligence community has learnt that the outfit is fully redoing its propaganda magazine, Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind, with a particular focus on India. An Intelligence Bureau official said Al-Qaeda has been looking for fresh members to run the magazine in Urdu, keeping the Indian audience in mind.
While focusing extensively on highly provocative content, Al-Qaeda is also trying to widen its reach within India, the official said. Its recent publications have extensively focused on airborne attacks and provided suggestions on how to execute the same.
It is trying to appeal to Muslim professionals in the aviation sector. Through the publication, it has been urging such professionals to use their expertise and experience to carry out airborne attacks on Indian interests both within the country as well as abroad, the official said.
An official said the Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind content has heavily cited the recent Flydubai incident of September 30. Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv witnessed a hijacking incident when an Omani first officer attacked Indian Captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit. Investigations have shown that an attempt was made to either hijack or crash the aircraft.
Another official said that while Al-Qaeda is not claiming responsibility for the attack, it wants potential recruits to seek inspiration from the incident. This explains why the recent publications of the Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind are not targeting fresh recruits, but trying to brainwash and exploit those within the system to create a major crisis, the official said.
Al-Qaeda has not just trained its guns on those who are part of the commercial aviation sector. It has also been reaching out to those who are in defence and maritime operations, the official said.
Officials say that while Al-Qaeda does have in its possession highly charged content against the Indian state, it has not been able to reach the desired number of people. Currently, the outfit appears to be inclined to maximising reach and hopes that at least 2 of the 10 people it manages to get will bite the bait and carry out a critical operation capable of creating a major crisis in India.
Further, the outfit also wants Indians to be part of the publication exercise. It would rely more on the Indian operatives to undertake covert operations whereby they would be able to increase the reach of the outfit.
These operatives are expected to work in small groups and then spread the message around discreetly. There is no one place in India that Al-Qaeda is focusing its Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind on. It wants the message through this magazine to reach as many people as possible and hence has planned to target the length and breadth of the country.
Al Qaeda in the Sub-Continent (AQIS) first launched the Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind to radicalise Indian Muslims against the government of India. Its primary focus was to recruit youth in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. However, with the rebranding now, the focus has shifted to pan-India, and this is what makes the task of the Indian agencies far more challenging.
The magazine is no longer just speaking about Jammu and Kashmir or Assam. Instead, it has become a weapon to radicalise people from across the country, with the prime focus being on those who are part of the commercial aviation and maritime sector, an official said.
–IANS
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