DNA Edit: Zawahiri’s desperation - Terror groups in Kashmir Valley are a divided lot

While terror group Al-Qaeda’s chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in this world is largely a matter of speculation, there are enough indications to suggest that he, like his former boss Osama bin Laden, is in Pakistan’s safe keep.

Reason? Every now and then, after a gap of a few years, the Egyptian medic cum terror man emerges out of the blue to spew venom at India and its “occupation” of Kashmir. Except for the visibility of ISI men lurking in the background, Zawahiri’s 14-minute message relayed on its media wing on Wednesday had Pakistan’s footprints all over.

Zawahiri — following his hosts’ diktat — has called on the “mujahideen in Kashmir” to inflict “unrelenting blows” on the Indian Army and the government.

In his speech, Zawahiri’s clarion call on Muslims around the world to “strongly empathise” with the cause of jihad for the implementation of Shariah in Kashmir, is a sign that things are not going Pakistan’s way, despite its all-out efforts to stir up trouble.

By his speech, Zawahiri has indicated Pakistan’s involvement in fuelling cross-border terrorism in the Kashmir Valley. He criticised Pakistan and its army by calling them “toadies of United States of America”, who “were lying in wait” for Arab militants wanting to head to Kashmir.

The timing of the speech is significant. It has come when pro-Pakistan terror groups are at odds with other pan-Islamist groups in Jammu and Kashmir over several reasons, mostly the untrustworthy nature of Pakistan-backed groups.  After fighting for several years together, the different aims of Pakistan-based jihadis and their counterparts from the Middle East have led to the widening of this split. Understandably, Zawahiri has lashed out at Islamabad, saying that the Pakistani government and its army is interested in exploiting terrorists for specific political objectives, only to dump or persecute them later.