New Delhi/Srinagar, Sept 4
Al-Qaeda’s threat to target India could be carried out by a mix of India and Pakistan-based radical terror groups having trained suicide bombers, Indian security agencies warned Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, after a high-level meeting today, ordered a nationwide alert, especially at tourist destinations which will see heavy rush during the forthcoming holidays and the winter season.

Last night, Al-Qaeda chief Ayman-al- Zawahiri, in a 55-minute video in Arabic and Urdu, had warned of attacks on India.

“Pakistan-based firebrand cleric Maulana Asim Umar is the head of the terror group’s India formation while Ustad Usama Mahmoud has been named its spokesman. This group will work under central Qaedat-ul-Jihad (Al Qaeda), which is an army from the armies of the Islamic Emirate of Mullah Umar,” Zawahiri said.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) found the video, posted on Islamist websites, genuine. It has been produced by Al-Qaeda’s media arm ‘As Sahaab’.

Zawahiri said this group had been formed to liberate “oppressed Muslims” of the sub-continent and listed six aims, including liberation of “Muslims lands”, defense of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and establishment of Islamic law and caliphate or Islamic state. Asim Umar, in recent months, has issued statements asking Muslim youth to take the path of jihad. He has also called for the establishment of a caliphate – a theme common with Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The Tribune in a two-part series had reported how Al-Qaeda affiliates had warned that Kashmir would be the next battlefield after the US withdrew from Afghanistan.