Govt dismisses al Qaeda threat of unrelenting blows to India, says can't take them seriously

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has dismissed al Qaeda's latest video threat of dealing "unrelenting blows" to the Indian Army and government.

The ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday, "There are a lot of things which are said, we would not want to dignify it with an answer."

He added, "We keep hearing of such threats but they can't be taken seriously. Our security forces are well equipped and capable to maintaining our territorial integrity and sovereignity."

In its first video on Kashmir, al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahari has asked terrorists to inflict "unrelenting blows" on the Indian Army and the government to "bleed" the economy and make the country suffer.

In the video, Zawahari, who took over the reins of al Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden, said, "I



am of the view that the Mujahideen (armed terrorists) in Kashmir- at this stage at least- should focus with single mind on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian Army and government so as to bleed the Indian economy and make India suffer sustained losses in manpower and equipment."

The video was posted on 'As-Sahab' channel, an in-house production of al Qaeda used to relay the organisation's views to the world, also asked the terrorists "to establish stronger channels of communication with their Muslim brethren all over the world".

The video was been checked by the security agencies who believed that it was an attempt to unite the disgruntled terrorist ranks in the valley, officials said.

The al Qaeda chief also warned the terrorists not to fall into the trap of Pakistan, which he termed as a puppet of the US.