Islamic State mocks at LeT, calls it puppet of 'apostate' Pakistan army

ISIS made the statement in one of the harshest criticism of the al Qaeda’s role parts of northwestern and western India.

New Delhi: In a first, the Islamic State militant organisation mocked the capabilities of al Qaeda by questioning their support to militancy in the Kashmir Valley which it said is being controlled by the 'apostate' Pakistani Army.

“In India, they (al Qaeda) are the allies of the nationalist Kashmir factions whose advances and withdrawals are only by the order of the apostate Pakistani Army,” the Hindustan Times quoted an article published in the IS mouthpiece Dabiq as saying.

ISIS made the statement in one of the harshest criticism of the al Qaeda’s role in Khorasan, a region that includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and parts of northwestern and western India.

The IS' scathing attack came just days after, Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba issued a statement on Saturday denouncing the Islamic State as “a product of anti-Islamic Western countries” and said it had no influence in Jammu and Kashmir.

The HT report further quotes LeT spokesperson Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi as saying: “Kashmiris don’t want aid and support from an external group. They are capable enough to fight against the Indian aggression themselves.”

Meanwhile, Ajai Sahni, an expert on terrorism, duped the IS statement as “significant”.

"IS is trying to expose both the al Qaeda and the Pakistani Army. It is sending a message to its potential recruits in the subcontinent that only (the) IS follows the true path of jihad, the others are mere opportunists. So it is also a move to garner more members and support," the report quoted Sahni as saying.

He added that since the IS itself is a breakaway group of the al Qaeda, once led by slain terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, it has much information about the latter's links in Kashmir.

Though the IS has had limited presence in India till now, security agencies estimate that around two dozen people from the country have joined the outfit in Syria and Iraq.

The IS’ black flag has also appeared during anti-India demonstrations in Kashmir in recent times.

Recently, the Islamic State militants staged a bloody carnage in Paris which underlined the outfit's capability to strike deep at the heart of Europe. The terror outfit also attacked a hotel in Mali, in which at least 27 were killed.

In a new video, ISIS have also threatened to launch an attack on the White House.