State officially designates al Qaeda in South Asia as a terrorist group

The State Department has officially designated al Qaeda’s branch in South Asia as a foreign terrorist group, according to a notice published Friday. 

The group, known as al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), is based in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Burma. Its emir, Asim Umar, was also designated as a specially designated global terrorist. 

{mosads}The designation “notifies the U.S. public and the international community that AQIS and Umar are actively engaged in terrorism,” the State Department said in a statement.  

“Designations of terrorist individuals and groups expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and result in denial of access to the U.S. financial system,” it said. “Moreover, designations can assist or complement the law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and other governments.”  

The designations prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with or supporting AQIS and Umar, and would freeze their assets in the United States if they were to do so. 

Al Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced the formation of AQIS in a video address in September 2014, according to a notice by the State Department. 

The group claimed responsibility for an attempt to hijack a Pakistani Navy frigate on September 6, 2014, and also for the murders of activists and writers in Bangladesh, it said. 

But according to terrorism expert Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the U.S. government and intelligence services have “consistently underestimated the strength of AQIS.” 

“State’s designation says that Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s emir, announced the formation of AQIS in September 2014. However, when Zawahiri announced the formation of AQIS, he noted that al Qaeda worked to create the group for over two years,” Roggio wrote in The Long War Journal on Thursday, where he is senior editor. 

“Additionally, Zawahiri said that AQIS reported directly to the emir of the Afghan Taliban. This fact was omitted from State’s designation of AQIS,” he wrote.  

Roggio said the group has relied on a “deep bench” of jihadist groups in South Asia to bolster its ranks after suffering losses from U.S. drone strikes and counterterrorism operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Roggio said AQIS has re-established training camps in Afghanistan, and has a “burgeoning cadre of fighters and operatives loyal to al Qaeda,” despite U.S. officials saying that al Qaeda there has been “decimated.”  

Separately on Friday, Bangladeshi officials said there was a gun battle was taking place between police and unidentified attacks in the diplomatic area of its capital in Dhaka. 

The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka tweeted there were “reports of shooting and a hostage situation,” and a police officer told the BBC that Islamic militants were suspected.

According to the BBC, gunmen stormed a cafe in the Gulshan district, wounding three people, including two police officers. There were also unconfirmed reports of at least 20 civilians being taken hostage.