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MHA designates Afghan-based ISJK chief recruiter Aijaz Ahanger as ‘individual terrorist’
Ahanger has close contacts with Al Qaeda and other global terrorist groups and is engaged in restarting the Islamic State channels in India, the MHA said
The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Wednesday designated Kashmir-born terrorist Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger alias Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, one of the main recruiters of Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK), as an “individual terrorist” under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
According to an MHA notification, Ahanger was also in touch with al-Qaeda and other global terror groups.
Ahanger was among hundreds of jehadis who were released from Kabul’s two prisons – Pul-e-Charkhi and Badam Bagh – by the Taliban after taking over Afghanistan in August 2021. He was arrested by Afghanistan’s former National Directorate of Security (NDS) in Kandahar in April 2020 along with his wife Rukshana Ahangar.
An official familiar with the developments said, “Ahanger, currently based in Afghanistan, was carrying out recruitment and other activities for ISJK in association with Pakistan-based operatives.”
“Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger, son of Mohammad Abdullah Ahanger born in Nawakadal, Srinagar in 1974, presently based in Afghanistan, is one of the chief recruiters of Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir. Ahanger has close contacts with Al Qaeda and other global terrorist groups and is engaged in restarting the Islamic State channels in India. He is working towards providing traction to militancy in Kashmir and has started the process of identifying people for inclusion in his Kashmir based network,” the MHA notification stated.
The ministry said he was appointed as head of Islamic State’s recruitment cell for India and had been instrumental in initiating an online India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine.
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Ahanger is wanted for more than two decades for his terror activities in J&K, the MHA said, adding that “he started planning terror related strategies in Jammu and Kashmir by building coordination channels between various terrorist organisations”.
He is the 49th terrorist to be designated as ‘individual terrorist’ under the UAPA.
Under the fourth schedule of the UAPA, the Centre has powers to designate a person as an ‘individual terrorist’ if it believes that s/he is involved in terrorism. The provision was included in the act through an amendment in August 2019.
Once a person is designated as an individual terrorist, agencies such as the NIA can put an embargo on arms and funds, and seize their assets, according to an officer cited above.
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, LeT co-founder Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and US-based Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), who has been spearheading a campaign under the banner of ‘Referendum 2020’ for a separate Khalistani state, are among those included in this list.
