NEW DELHI — The al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has released a new propaganda video that mentions Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claims responsibility for the murder of American atheist blogger Avijit Roy in Bangladesh, according to media reports.
Asim Umar, the chief of the militant Islamic group in the Indian subcontinent, claims a war is going on against Muslims "through World Bank and IMF policies, drone attacks, satanic conspiracy of Kerry-Lugar bill, Charlie Hebdo’s writings, UN charter, official sermons by muftis and Narendra Modi’s speeches which call for muslims to be burnt alive- this is the same war," a report in the news website Firstpost today said.
According to the US-based SITE that monitors extremist groups, Umar is quoted as saying that his organization was responsible for the attack on Roy who was hacked to death on the streets of Dhaka in February while returning from a book fair with his wife.
The May 2 video titled 'From France to Bangladesh: The Dust Will Never Settle Down' also claims responsibility for the death of three other Bangladeshi bloggers — Oyasiqur Rahman Babu, Rajib Haider and AKM Shafiul Islam, according to the Hindustan Times.
The HT report said Indian security agencies are verifying the authenticity of the video.
AQIS was formed in 2014 and Umar appointed its leader by top Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri after the terror outfit spread its reach in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Assam.
IBNLive reported that intelligence agencies do not see the latest video as a threat and the authenticity of the video has not been established as yet.
"In a nine-minute video, released by al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (Aqis) and produced by al-Qaida central’s own As Sahab production house, the head of the local group, Maulana Asim Umar, claims to 'have recently assassinated several blasphemers of the Prophet and insulters of Islamic law,'" wrote Jason Burke in the Guardian.
Burke's report quoted Umar as saying that "blasphemers" have now been "taught a lesson in France, Denmark, Pakistan and now in Bangladesh".
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