IS releases video showing Indian jihadists fighting in Syria

Islamic State has launched a new propaganda video that showed off a large group of Kalashnikov-wielding jihadists allegedly from India fighting against the Syrian forces in the Homs province.

Islamic State has launched a new propaganda video that showed off a large group of Kalashnikov-wielding jihadists allegedly from India fighting against the Syrian forces in the Homs province.

The conflict in Syria and Iraq has now drawn more volunteer fighters than past Islamist causes in Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia - and an estimated eight out of 10 enlistees have joined Islamic State. (AP Photo)

The video is part of ISIS propaganda campaign on foreign fighters in their ranks, US-based private SITE Intelligence Group said on Thursday.

The terror group’s division in Homs released the video on Indian fighters aimed at recruiting jihadists from the country to fight against the Syrian government forces, it said.

“The interviewed ISIS fighters called on Indians to leave their country and join the ‘jihad’ in Syria against the ‘kuffar’ (infidels),” Al-Masdar News on Friday reported, citing the video.

It is not clear how many Indians are actually fighting with the ISIS inside Syria, it said.

Citing Syrian Arab Army sources, it said there has been a recent surge in the number of dead Indian fighters near the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.

The video shows groups of militants on board small boats brandishing Kalashnikov with an ISIS black flag in the background. It shows bearded faces of most of the militants.

The video shows militants joining hands and pledging ‘jihad’ against the Syrian forces.