Al Qaeda incites Indian Muslims to carry out lone-wolf attacks on IAS, IPS Officers

New Delhi: In a big challenge for security officials, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has directed its men to launch lone-wolf attacks and target IPS, IAS officers in India.

AQIS chief Maulana Asim Umar, who was declared chief of Qaeda’s offshoot for the Indian Subcontinent by Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2014, has issued a statement in order to incite Indian Muslims to rise up and to follow the example of lone wolves in Europe and kill administrative and police officers in India.

Qaeda's South Asian wing AQIS trains its recruits not only to carry out terror attacks but also to radicalise vulnerable Muslim youth in the name of jihad, Delhi Police sources last month said.

"Askari" and "Deeni" are major training provided to new members of the outfit by AQIS handlers based in Pakistan, the sources said.

Mohammad Asif, 41, the suspected "Indian incharge" of AQIS who was arrested by Delhi Police's special cell in December last year, had informed investigators about these training modules in his testimony.