1 day ago
AQAP Propaganda Linked to Red Fort Blast Plot in India
India’s National Investigation Agency investigated a planned car blast near the Red Fort.
The agency said the suspects belonged to a self-radicalised group based in Faridabad.
Investigators found a book written by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP.
Officials said AQAP may influence people in India even though it does not have fighters operating openly there.
AQAP uses online magazines and other material to spread its ideas.
Some of these materials reportedly explain how to make explosives and carry out attacks.
The investigation said the group was preparing a very large attack.
Officials are worried that AQAP could use local tensions to recruit young people and encourage violence.
The National Investigation Agency filed a 7,500-page charge sheet detailing the Red Fort car blast plot.
Investigators found AQAP’s “Lone Mujahid Pocket Book/How to Become an Assassin” among members of a Faridabad self-radicalisation module.
Officials said AQAP does not operate on the ground in India but maintains tactical, ideological and organisational connections there.
AQAP propaganda, including its English-language Inspire magazine, is reportedly used to radicalise Indian youth.
Experts said the publications also provide instructions on explosives, TATP, remote-controlled detonators, weapons, arson and covert activity.
- Who
- The National Investigation Agency investigated a Faridabad module allegedly influenced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and other extremist propaganda.
- What
- A 7,500-page charge sheet detailed the planning and execution of a Red Fort car blast plot and described the module’s radicalisation and attack preparations.
- Where
- The module operated out of Faridabad, while the planned attack targeted the Red Fort area in India.
- When
- The charge sheet concerned a plot from November last year.
- Why
- Officials said AQAP seeks to radicalise Indian youth, exploit communal issues and destabilise India.
Key facts
- Investigating agency
- National Investigation Agency
- Charge-sheet length
- 7,500 pages
- Module location
- Faridabad
- Key publication
- Lone Mujahid Pocket Book/How to Become an Assassin
- AQAP magazine
- Inspire, an English-language digital magazine
- Explosive discussed
- Triacetone Triperoxide, also called TATP or the “Mother of Satan”
- Reported operational material
- Instructions concerning explosives, weapons, arson, vehicles, covert activity and remote-controlled IED detonators
Quotes
An unnamed intelligence official
An official describing AQAP’s alleged recruitment and operational objectives in India.
“Outfits such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have shifted a large part of their operations to the Arab nations. Most of the handlers that deal with the Indian recruits are from the Arab or African nations”
thehansindia.com
“This could be to do with the fact that there is more scrutiny when it comes to AQIS compared with AQAP”
thehansindia.com
Sources
Related news
NIA Chargesheet Details Extremist Literature in Red Fort Blast Case
UN Security Council report attributes Red Fort blast to AQIS
NIA May Take Over MP Lone-Wolf Attack Probe
Delhi Court Accepts NIA Chargesheet in Red Fort Blast
NIA Chargesheet Details Alleged Funding Behind Red Fort Blast
