Bracing for the ISSI-Al Qaida Threat to

India

History of Al Qaida
Al Qaida is a global terror organisation, which was formed by Osama
bin Laden in the year 1988-89. Its fighters are known to have
participated in the jihad against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
It operates as a global, stateless group of warriors that follow the
ideology of the radical Wahhabi Movement that calls for global
jihad against kaffirs or non- believers and strict enforcement of
Sharia Laws. After Osama bin Laden was killed, the group is being led
by an Egyptian, Ayan al Zawarhiri.
The Al Qaida group belongs to the Sunni faction and are highly
intolerant to all non-Wahhabis, like, liberal Muslims, Shias and

Sufis. They have indulged in a lot of sectarian violence in Syria and

also against Kurds & Yazidi community.
Emergence of Al Qaida in Iraq (AQI)
Iraq has a predominantly Shia population. In the aftermath of US
invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Sunni dictator, Saddam Hussein was
removed from power and was replaced by a democratic Shia
government under PM Nouri al Maliki.
The American occupation of Iraq created a security vacuum and a
Jordan Sunni terrorist, Abu Zarkqawi emerged into prominence by
conducting a lot of violent attacks against the Shiites.
In 2004, his group swore allegiance to Al Qaida of Osama bin Laden
and started to be known as Al Qaida in Iraq (AQI).
Emergence of ISSI & Break-up of Al Qaida & AQI
The AQIs violent ways of targeting Shia civilian population and their
Mosques, ran foul with the Al Qaidas mission to unite all Muslims
into a single Islamic Caliphate. Hence, the first signs of fray
between the two groups started to become visible. Zarqawi was later
killed in an attack by US troops in 2006.
Iraqi PM Nouri al Malikis policies were highly biased in fgavour of
the Shia population, and hence, the Iraqs minority Sunnis
community became more and more isolated. Frequently, sectarian
violence erupted in Iraq, especially, after the withdrawal of American
forces from Iraq in 2011.
American pull out of Iraq also coincided with the uprising in Syrian
against the autocratic rule of Basher al Assad, who was in power for
10 years. Once the uprising changed into a full scale civil war, the
Al Qaida fighters fought alongside the Syrian rebels owing to
similar ethnicity.
Meanwhile, the AQI, rechristened as the ISSI, garnered support of
the distraught and disgruntled Sunni community, reorganised and

commenced large scale operations against The Maliki regime. Thus, in

effect, ISSI is another name for Al Qaida in Iraq (AQI) Group.
In order to support their operations, worldwide funding and
mobilisation of fighters commenced, mainly funds from Saudi Arabia
and fighter from North Africa. Latter of course volunteer fighters
from all over the world, including USA, Europe and even from the
Indian Subcontinent joined the jihad.
Soon ISSI was able to capture two oil field, in the Kurdish region of
Northern Iraq. This further augmented their resources and funds.
Thus, ISSI today is the worlds richest terrorist organisation .
The relation between Al Qaida and ISSI has remained of distrust and
competitive hostility. The final crack between the two groups
happened after the ISSI expansion from Iraq into Syria. In the
competition for global Jihadist supremacy, ISSI clearly hold the
upper hand.
Recent development of Yemens Al Qaida group alleging support to
ISSI has given it another shot in the arm, adding to the insecurities of
Zarkqawis Al Qaida.
ISSI / Al Qaida Threat to India
The threat of ISSI and Al Qaida is live. ISSI has a global ambition of
creating an Islamic World Dominion of which even India would be a
part of. In a World Dominion map released by ISSI, shows NW
India, including Gujarat to be a part of the Caliphate.
Though, Al Qaidas decision to open an India Wing to save the Muslims
is looked upon as a ploy of Al Zawarhiri to get some limelight on to
him and Al Qaida, which is looking much pale in comparison to
the dynamic ISSI.
It may be observed from the Map given above that most of the
countries of North African, with the exception of Sudan, Saudi
Arabia, Syria,Turkey, are predominantly Sunni (shown in Yellow

colour) and Iraq-Iran and Northern Afghanistan are Shiites (shown

in Green colour).
The reason for the AF-Pak region to be harbouring the worlds
deadliest terror groups is because of its Sunni orientation and highly
under developed rugged terrain, which is administrated by tribal
warlords. Besides, being patronised by countries like Saudi Arabia,
Pakistan and some North African countries, large scale opium
cultivation serves as its primary source of funds to fight the jihad.
In the context of the above Sunni - Shia configuration in the region, Al
Zawarhiri, through his video, also appears to be making a desperate
attempt to appeal to the Pakistani sentiments to get more recruits
for his diminished cadres.
What Should India Do
India cannot afford to take the threat lightly. It needs to get its act
together by carrying out some active and passive measures to be
prepared for all eventualities.
First of all, we need to ensure that the minority communities of the
country are given proper rights, protection and dignity. Incidents
of communal violence, as in Assam and Muzzafar Nagar, may help the
politicians in their short term goals, but, it would provide the
separatists a perfect opportunity to entice the people and firmly
establish a foothold in the country.
India must continuously endeavour to establish a robust counterterrorism partnership with USA to deny Al Qaida a safe haven in the
region and to combat its destabilising influence.
Build up better ties with the democratic government of Pakistan ,
which is showing aggressive intent to dismantle the terror groups
operating within its country.
Unite the country against all forms of divisive forces operating in
the country by winning the trust level of the people through just and
effective governance.

As an immediate reaction to the Al Zawarhiri threat, the Home Minister

called for a high level meeting of Intelligence agencies and
executioners for planning and coordination.
Some states that are known to have sleeper cells of these dreaded
terror groups, have been put on high alert for the ensuing festive
season.
Note: This Article may be read in conjunction with the following two
previous blogs:
a. Creation of Islamic State (ISSI) in Middle East:
http://www.olivegreens.in/our-blog/creation-of-islamic-state-isisin-middle-east
b. Implications of Withdrawal of US & NATO Forces from
Afghanistan: http://www.olivegreens.in/our-blog/implications-ofwithdrawal-of-us-nato-forces-from-afghanistan