ISIS claims it has a new province in Kashmir, India refutes

• ISIS is claiming a new terrority in India called 'Wilayah of Hind'.
• The country's intelligence agencies are denying all claims.
• Announcing a new branch of ISIS is seen as a part of their strategy to maintain the image of strengthening global affiliations after it was pushed out from the Middle East.
  

The Islamic State terror group that goes by the name ISIS is claiming that it has a ‘new province’ in India. According to the terror outfit’s broadcast channel, Amaq News, their territory in India is called ‘Wilayah of Hind’ (India Province).

But, top officials in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir as well as the country’s intelligence agencies are categorically denying these claims -- in spite of a clash between the region’s militants and the Indian Military, on Friday.

Conflicting claims

According to a statement by ISIS via the messaging app, Telegram, the clash between the groups occurred in the Amshipora village of Kashmir.

Media reports, on the same day, reported that a militant was killed — Ishfaq Sofi a.k.a Abdullah Bhai of Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK).

It was then that ISIS began to claim responsibility for attacks against the Indian Military in Kashmir since 2017.

Intelligence agencies and the Director General of Jammu Kashmir Police, Dilbagh Singh, said that the terrorist who died wasn’t from ISIS from an ‘IS-inspired’ group.

While he could be potentially influenced by the ideology of IS, he ‘definitely’ did not belong to the group nor has the outfit any footprint in Kashmir.

To be fair, ISIS also hasn’t lent any details about the geographic boundaries of their newly founded ‘province’.

Not the first time

Laying claim to a territory an ISIS ‘province’ is not new for the terror organisation. They’ve reportedly declared a Turkey Province and Central Africa province as well.

Announcing a new branch of ISIS is seen as a part of their strategy to maintain the image of strengthening global affiliations after it was pushed out from the Middle East.


These claims may have been rubbished since there was never anything in place that resembled actual governance but Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, warns that they shouldn’t simply be written off either.

(with IANS inputs)