Collapse of Indian Mujahedeen leads its fighters to join ISIS

A deadly blow dealt by Indian security authorities to
a militant group named Indian Mujahedeen has reportedly led its fugitive
fighters to tuck their heads under the ISIS banner. It was in August 2013 when the Indian security authorities
managed to defuse the threat of the Indian Mujahedeen after arresting Yassin
Bhatkal, one of its most notorious leaders, at the Indian-Nepalese
borders.
The Indian Mujahedeen was formed by a 36-years old
computer engineer named Abdul-e-Sobh Qureshi. Due to his hi-tech expertise,
Qureshi was responsible for manufacturing explosives set to detonate by remote
control.
The Indian militant group grabbed the press headlines
again on Sept. 11 after an Indian court delivered death sentence to two
of its terrorists, Anik Shafik Said and Mohamed Akbar Ismail Chaowdhry, after
finding them guilty of launching two bombings in Hyderabad, the capital of the
Indian southern state of Telangana on August 25, 2007. Three suspects still at large were sentenced
in absentia.
The first bomb
exploded in an amusement park; and the second explosion took place five minutes
later in a popular restaurant. At least 42 people were killed in the two
bombings.
According to the Indian security
authorities, Indian Mujahedeen fighters hailed from Azmharah in the Indian
state of Uttar Pradesh to the east of New Delhi. The group had lost several of its fighters in
exchanges of fire with the Indian security authorities. They included Mohamed
Sajed, who was the terrorist behind the bombing in the Connaught Place in the
Indian capital. The Indian security authorities also managed to gun down a
militant named Mohamed Atef, nicknamed Al-Bashir, who planted a bomb in Kailash Health Village.
Indian Mujahedeen gained notoriety after
it claimed—via emails—its responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks and
bombings, which took place in different Indian states, such as Uttar Pradesh in
2007; and Bangalore, New Delhi and
Jaipur in 2008. Qureshi’s terrorist group was also behind the devastating
bombings in Mumbai in 2011.
The Indian security authorities were on
red alert on May 21, 2016 after ISIS released a videoed message, in which it
threatened to launch reprisal attacks after the killing of Muslims at the
hands of Hindus in Gujarat, the
birthplace of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.