Sri Lanka-based NTJ’s collapse forces Al Qaeda, Islamic State to rethink South India strategy

New Delhi, Oct 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The collapse of the Sri Lanka-based National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) dealt a major blow to both Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, which had sought to expand their influence in the region. The organisation had evolved into a dangerous extremist outfit, as demonstrated by its capacity to carry out the deadly Easter bombings in Sri Lanka.

Both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State had sought to use the NTJ to extend their reach in Sri Lanka and South India, in particular. However, the NTJ appeared to be more closely aligned with the Islamic State, whose emphasis on violent jihad and its methods of operation appealed more strongly to the group.

An official said that both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State had realised that they could not operate Mujahideen-style terror outfits in Sri Lanka and South India, noting that this model of terrorism had found success only in Jammu and Kashmir.

“In the rest of the country, groups such as the Indian Mujahideen and the Popular Front of India (PFI) found success. However, their operations were markedly different from those carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed or Lashkar-e-Taiba in Jammu and Kashmir,” the official said.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State were focusing heavily on radicalisation efforts in South India and Sri Lanka. However, both outfits had realised that radicalisation alone would not suffice and needed to be backed by ground operations, such as the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka.

The official said both outfits were currently encouraging their operatives and sympathisers to form groups along the lines of the NTJ or the PFI.

Both terror outfits have also understood that when it comes to operations in South India, potential recruits have leaned more towards localised terror groups. Al Qaeda and the Islamic State do have traction when it comes to ideology, but recruits prefer local terror outfits such as the NTJ and PFI.

“This is because such groups are more capable of undertaking operations on the ground. Moreover, these groups connect more easily because of common language and other traits that are local in nature,” the official said.

Another official said that states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala are more charged when it comes to radicalisation. The Islamic State and Al Qaeda have managed to penetrate their ideology in Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively. However, it has failed to launch even one major operation in these states. In the absence of such operations, recruitment is hard, and both these outfits realise that.

Intelligence inputs suggest that groups such as the NTJ and PFI are not capable of an immediate revival. The agencies, both in India and Sri Lanka, are closely monitoring those sympathetic towards these groups. Moreover, neither group has made any serious attempt at a revival since they were banned.

Post the Easter bombings, the Sri Lankan government cracked down heavily on the NTJ, and this effectively eliminated the group.

In the case of the PFI, the crackdown was hard, and this led to multiple raids and subsequent arrests. The financial choking of these terror groups also has ensured that a revival anytime soon would not be possible, officials say.

Officials have not ruled out the possibility of Al-Ummah re-emerging in South India. The group, which was linked to the Coimbatore bombings, has reportedly been sending signals suggesting a possible comeback.

According to the officials, Al-Ummah is under the control of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), with some of its members continuing to find shelter in Pakistan.

Given the current situation and the ambitions of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, these groups would either wait for an Al-Ummah resurgence and ride on it or would focus entirely on creating completely new entities to run their operations in South India and Sri Lanka, an official said.

Source: IANS