Online accounts affiliated with so-called Islamic State (IS) have shared a video showing a pledge of allegiance to the group made by “mujahidin in Kashmir”, possibly paving the way for an IS declaration of a new branch there.
The 13:46-minute video was disseminated on 25 December by IS’s Nashir News network of channels on the messaging app Telegram under the hashtag #Wilayat Kashmir (Kashmir Province).
It featured a masked man identified as Abu al-Baraa al-Kashmiri presumably speaking in Urdu, with English subtitles, pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi and urging other militant groups in the region to do the same.
Al-Kashmiri singled out the recently formed al-Qaeda-aligned jihadist group in Kashmir, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, which is led by Zakir Musa, inviting it to join “the Caliphate”.
The speaker condemned Pakistan’s intelligence services (ISI), India’s “infidel” system and local militant groups who “claimed” to be jihadists, naming “Hizb-lashkar-jaish-tehreek” as one of such “fake” groups.
The video featured the logo of a media group called Nida Haqq and another logo of al-Qaraar Media. Al-Qaraar is a Kashmir-focused media outlet claiming to represent the "mujahidin of the Islamic Caliphate in the gateway of India". It has recently threatened attacks in India.
In recent months a number of pro-IS channels have been promoting supposed IS supporters in Kashmir. IS flags have also reportedly been seen in some anti-government protests in the Kashmir Valley earlier this year.
In June IS voiced its interest in Kashmir, publishing an article in Rumiyah's Urdu version that called for recruits in Kashmir.
A month later, a low-profile group of IS supporters emerged calling itself Ansarul Khilafah Jammu Kashmir (AKJK), which urged Kashmir-based IS supporters to come together under a single leader and prepare for “battle”.
That same month (Jul 2017), the new al-Qaeda-aligned group Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind emerged.
By November, IS claimed responsibility for its first attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, saying a “commando operation” killed a police officer and wounded another.
IS has not declared a new branch since 2015, when it announced the set up of its “Caucasus Province” that June.
In the past, the group has followed a specific pattern for such announcements.
It would first promote a pledge or pledges of allegiance from a certain region, similar to the new Kashmiri one, then share news of the appointment of a leader for the pro-IS militants in that region, before declaring a new branch there.
Our team @BBCMonitoring has extensively covered these developments, with an analysis in Jun about "IS eyeing expansion in Kashmir". For a trial of BBCM website, please get in touch at @BBCMonitoring
A lot of credit goes to my colleague Mark Wilson @M_DubU who has been covering jihadist activity in South Asia in past months, in collaboration with our colleagues in Delhi, and our former colleague Laura Smith who wrote the analysis “IS eyes expansion in Kashmir”.Excellent team!
