Pakistan came for heavy criticism from Al Qaeda chief.
Al Qaeda's media wing has released a 14-minutes long speech of chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri focussing on Kashmir and other issues including Pakistan's alliance with the US against jihadists.
Wearing a white colour turban and a long white shirt, Zawahiri in his speech calls Muslims around the world to “strongly empathise” with the cause - Jihad for the implementation of Shariah - of Kashmir. He also asks Muslims to express sympathies and extend support to the people living in the state.
The Al-Qaeda chief in his speech criticises Pakistani state, it’s army by calling them“toadies of United States of America” who according to Zawahiri, “were in lying in wait" for Arab militants, wanting to head to Kashmir after "expelling" Soviets from Afghanistan.
Having an assault rifle on his right and holy book of Quran to his left, he then compares the policy of Pakistan government regarding Kashmiri militancy to that of Taliban and migrant terrorists - a reference to global jihadists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The video has also come at a time when pro-Pakistan terror groups have developed a rift with pan-Islamist groups in the state over several reasons. The pan-Islamist groups advocate for jihad in the name of Islam and denounce Pakistan.
Recently, Aadil Ahmed Dass, a terrorist affiliated with Islamic state J&K, according to sources was killed during a tussle over weapons with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists. Zawahiri while cautioning Kashmir's pro-Pak terrorists says that “Pakistani government and its army is interested in exploiting terrorists for specific political objectives... only to dump or persecute them later.”
The Al Qaeda chief also details how Pakistan after surrendering to U.S post 9/11 arrested, sold, persecuted and killed Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters and how it provided safe houses to America to bomb Afghanistan and "in return received bribes".Zawahiri in the video says that the relationship between U.S and Pakistan are that of a "petty thief and a gang's boss" who complain to each other. "However, the cooperative alliance between the two continue to prosper,” he adds.
The Al Qaeda chief asserts that the Pakistan government & army cannot be trusted vis-a-vis ‘liberation of Kashmir’. "When it comes to defending Muslims, Pakistan army possesses a very dark history...," he argues and cites Dhaka surrender, Balochistan, Waziristan & Swat as examples.
In a series of suggestions to Kashmir terrorists, he says "the first vital step is to turn the Jihad in Kashmir into Jihad for the sake of Allah...to liberate Kashmir jihad from the clutches of Pakistan intelligence agencies."
In his speech, the Al Qaeda chief calls on terrorists in Kashmir to "single-mindedly focus on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian army and government so as to bleed their economy...make India suffer sustained losses in manpower & equipment".
The video seems to be a move by Zawahiri to incite terrorists in an attempting to boost their morale which is low due to lack of resources, killings, fatigue and crackdown across the border. Fact is terrorists in the valley haven't been able to carry out any major attack in Kashmir after February 14 suicide attack in Pulwama.
Importantly, Zawahiri urges terrorists in Kashmir to forge ties with jihadists across the world and open their channels with them.
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