Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed has joined hands with the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, according to a statement released by the Afghan Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader had recently said he was coming to India, or more specifically, Kashmir, which begs the question: Will he bring Isis terrorists there?
According to the Afghan MoD statement, a copy of which is available with International Business Times, India, Saeed had last year pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, which is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
The statement said: "He was a spokesman for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who later pledged allegiance to ISIS terror group." It also said: "He was one of the few senior members of TTP, who joined Daesh when it first emerged in the region a few months ago and was planning to engulf a widened war in the region and play a central role for the terror group." Daesh is the Arabic acronym of Isis, and a name by which it is referred to in the Middle-Eastern countries.
In a series of videos that had surfaced recently, Saeed, who, India says, masterminded the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, was seen saying: "My sister Asiya Andrabi called me over the phone and cried for 15 minutes. She asked me: 'Brother, where are you?' Now, I am telling my sister Asiya, we are coming." Dukhtaran-e-Millat leader Asiya Andrabi is one of the more prominent separatist leaders in Kashmir.
These remarks by Saeed, made at a prominent rally in Lahore, where he roams free despite being a wanted man in the United States and India, coupled with the fact that he is now working with Isis, could mean any new attacks he could be planning in Jammu & Kashmir, or even the rest of India, would be in collaboration with the Islamic State group. This could be a huge challenge for intelligence agencies as well as security forces in India.
