Mohammad Shafi Armar, an ISIS
operative and recruiter of Indian origin, has been declared global terrorist by
the US State Department.
"Mohammad Shafi Armar is a
leader and head recruiter in India for the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)
and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, ISIS. He has cultivated
a group of dozens of ISIS sympathizers who are involved in terrorist activities
across India, such as plotting attacks, procuring weapons, and identifying
locations for terrorist training camps," the US State Department release said.
Shafi Armar is from Bhatkal,
Karnataka. He is considered close to ISIS chief Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi and has
recruited at least 30 Indians to join the ISIS and is said to be in touch with
over 700.
He became ISIS' main recruiter
for India after his elder brother Sultan Abdul Kadir Armar, who was heading
ISIS in India, was killed in March 2015. Their names cropped up during
interrogation of Yasin Bhatkal who was arrested from Nepal border in 2013.
Intelligence sources say he was
planning to establish ISIS units in each Indian state and had started Junud
AlKhalifa-e-Hind as ISIS' India wing for this purpose.
According to intelligence sources,
before joining ISIS, Shafi Armar was member of banned outfit Indian Mujahideen
and had fled to Pakistan in 2009 along with top leadership of the group.
There were reports last year that
Shafi Armar was killed in US air strike but he was later confirmed alive. Shafi
Armar has made Syria his base and uses social media platforms like Facebook and
WhatsApp to contract and recruit potential ISIS terrorists.
©SantoshChaubey
