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Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, on Friday said that the nation is prepared to tackle threat from terror outfits like the Al-Qaeda.
"There is a threat from such agencies and the nation is all prepared," Air Chief Marshal Raha said while reacting to al- Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri's announcement of establishing a new branch in the Indian subcontinent.
Earlier on Thursday, the Central government sounded a nationwide alert after the al-Qaeda video appeared.
According to a translation provided by the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor of Washington DC-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the new organization called 'Al-Qaeda Jihad Organization in South Asia' will be reportedly headed by militant commander Maulana Asim Umar. Another militant Usama Mahmood has been named as 'Spokesman, Al-Qaeda Jihad Organization in South Asia'.
The video, released on September 3 in both Arabic and Urdu voiceovers, shows Al-Zawahiri calling on Muslims to 'wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty and to revive its caliphate'.
"We want Islam to return to the Indian subcontinent, which was part of the Muslim world before it was invaded. It will serve Muslims in Burma, Kashmir, Gujarat, Bangladesh, Ahmedabad and Assam," said Al-Zawahiri.
"Establishing Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent is the result of two years of work to unify the Mujahideen. The rise of this new branch demonstrates that jihad under the leadership of Amir of Believers, Mullah Omar (head of the Afghan Taliban) is expanding," Al-Zawahiri goes on to say in the video.
