The ISIS is reportedly preparing for an attack in India with the aim of provoking an all-out armed confrontation with America, according to a recruitment document of the outfit found in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region.
The 32-page document in Urdu, obtained by American Media Institute (AMI) and reviewed by USA Today, also talks of building a new terrorist army in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plotting attacks on US soldiers withdrawing from Afghanistan as also American diplomats and Pakistani officials.
The undated document, titled “A Brief History of the Islamic State Caliphate, The Caliphate According to the Prophet”, warns that “preparations” for an attack in India are underway — an attack with ISIS believes will “provoke an apocalyptic confrontation with America”.
“Even if the US tries to attack with all its allies, which undoubtedly it will, the ummah (global community of Muslims) will be united, resulting in the final battle,” says the document which, according to USA Today, was obtained by AMI from an unnamed Pakistani citizen with connections inside the Pakistani Taliban and independently translated by Harvard researcher Mustafa Samdani.
Three US intelligence officials, who reviewed the document, believe it to be authentic. The document purports to unite dozens of factions of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban into a single army of terror. “It includes a never-before-seen history of the Islamic State, details chilling future battle plans, urges al-Qaeda to join the group and says the Islamic State’s leader should be recognized as the sole ruler of the world’s 1 billion Muslims under a religious empire called a ‘caliphate’,” says the USA Today account.
Former White House aide and CIA analyst Bruce Riedel believes that an ISIS strike in India would magnify the group’s stature and threaten the stability of the region. “Attacking in India is the Holy Grail of South Asian jihadists,” Riedel has been quoted as saying.
Retired Defense Intelligence Agency Director lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has been quoted as saying that the document represents the Islamic State’s campaign plan, noting: “It lays out their intent, their goals and objectives, a red flag to which we must pay attention.”
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry was said to have discussed the ISIS threat in Pakistan with White House, State Department and Pentagon officials. While denying the presence of ISIS in Pakistan, Chaudhry said it could be “a potential threat for the whole world, for our region too, for our country too”.