Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger, alias Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, one of the ISJK’s top recruiters, was branded a designated terrorist by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday. He is currently believed to be stationed in Afghanistan and has been sought in J&K for more than two decades (MHA).
According to intelligence services, Aijaz’s name came to light when Afghan intelligence agencies initiated an inquiry into the March 25, 2020 attack on a Kabul gurdwara.
“Aijaz was named head of the Islamic State (IS) recruitment cell for India and was important in launching an online India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine,” according to the MHA statement. He has been a wanted terrorist in J&K for almost two decades and has begun preparing his assassination.
The notification said Aijaz was born in Nawakadal, Srinagar, in 1974, and is presently based in Afghanistan. He is one of the chief recruiters of the ISJK, it stated.
“Aijaz has close contacts with Al-Qaida and other global terrorist groups and is engaged in restarting the Islamic State channels in India and is working towards providing traction to militancy in Kashmir,” the notification stated. The MHA said he has “started the process of identifying people for inclusion in his Kashmir-based network”.
Aijaz has been designated as individual terrorist under the UAPA, 1967, the MHA declared. With his inclusion in the Fourth Schedule under UAPA, Ahanger will be the 49th individual to be designated a terrorist, it said.