An Indian fighter, Abu Salim al-Hind, who was a part of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, an al Qaeda splinter group, was reported to have been killed when he was fighting in Syria, in an exclusive by DNA. He is believed to have died in August 2016 in Aleppo while fighting the Syrian coalition forces. This is the first time the death of an Indian al Qaeda fighter has been reported. And that’s significant.
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) aka al Nusra Front
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham used to be called Jabhat al-Nusra or the al Nusra Front. It renamed itself after it split from al Qaeda in July this year.
Al Nusra Front was set up in 2011 when al Qaeda’s then leader in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called for all the jihadist groups in the region. Baghdadi then went on to declare ISIS as a group independent of al Qaeda but when it called for al Nusra Front’s allegiance, the group refused.
What’s Different About the Death of ‘al-Hind’?
Well, apart from the fact that he’s one of only 7 Indians who have reportedly died fighting in the region, it’s also significant that JFS made the effort to put together an obituary that they released about Abu Salim al-Hind, also known as Abu Salih.
Also, he wasn’t an ISIS fighter. There is a belief that most foreign fighters who go to Iraq and Syria join ISIS. In fact, 21 youngsters recently went missing from Kerala and it was suspected that they had joined ISIS. But as it turned out, one of the 21 reportedly called his mother to say that he is in Afghanistan, practicing Salafi Islam and that all the missing youth were safe.
In Syria and Iraq, while ISIS may be the most prominent terror group, making headlines across the world with the indiscriminate attacks it has carried out across Europe, it is still not the only terror outfit.
Do Terror Groups Want to Recruit From India?
When al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent was established in 2014, ISIS had also announced its plans of expanding in South Asia. ISIS has a very strong social media presence and a savvy media network that puts out propaganda in several languages. ISIS has released propaganda in various Indian languages - Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali and Urdu. It’s clearly actively looking to recruit from India.
India is home to the third largest Muslim population in the world. And yes, while a single obituary may not establish a trend, it does raise questions. That JFS put a spotlight in an obituary on an Indian fighter could mean that this group is also looking at adopting the same strategy.
There has been a large flow of foreign fighters into the Syria and Iraq region and while Indians have not made up a significant portion of this number, especially relative to countries like the UK, France and Australia, there has been a rise in reports of young Indians engaging with ISIS online or leaving the country to join the terror group.
In fact, the NIA recently arrested members of a home-grown terror outfit in Madurai that called themselves the ‘Base Movement’. They said they want to follow al Qaeda’s path.
But be it recruitment by JFS, al Qaeda or ISIS, India has seemed relatively resistant to jihadi propaganda. And a sustained focus on strong counter-radicalisation techniques can help maintain that.
(With inputs from DNA)
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