Close to 300 Indians on Islamic State ‘Kill List’: Website

Updated at 11:24 a.m. ET on 2016-06-24

An outfit claiming to be Islamic State’s cyber division has released a list of more than 4,000 people, including 285 Indians, being targeted for hits by the Middle East-based extremist group.

A link to the list that contains names and addresses of 4,681 people from countries including the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and India, and was posted on the website of United Cyber Caliphate (UCC) sometime this week. The exact date when the list was uploaded could not be confirmed.

SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based website that monitors messages posted by IS and other militant groups online, reported Tuesday that the UCC had posted a “kill list” detailing names and addresses of 4,681 people in those five countries and elsewhere.

SITE referred to UCC as a pro-Islamic State hacking group and said the information on the list was gathered from “a publicly accessible source, of civilians” in those countries.

“O individual wolves out there in the world, kill the Cross wherever you find it. For there “war on Islam” and “mujahideen” (sic). Kill them strongly… kill them hardly #Kill them. Revenge for Muslims. #World get ready for the second round,” said a message, accompanied by a link to the hit list, on the website.

The link to the list could not be accessed in India via the UCC website, but the site was visible to internet users there.

The message asked Muslims in different countries to take up the battle on behalf of IS, which reportedly is losing ground in its strongholds of Syria and Iraq. It did not give reasons for why it picked those people.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing IS-related cases in India, has not officially commented on the alleged list.

“We are not aware of the kill list. But the possibility of lone wolves acting cannot be refuted. Agencies are keeping a close watch on such suspects to avert any attack,'' a senior NIA officer told the Indian website Daily News & Analysis.

‘Act of desperation’

Security analysts are raising doubts about the hit-list’s veracity, but one suggested it was a sign of IS’s growing desperation.

“This is an act of desperation since the IS are now losing field in their stronghold regions. Their frustration is visible. They have failed in South Asia. This is part of their propaganda to get and sustain recruitment and support from across countries,” retired Maj. Gen. Afsir Karim, an expert of terrorism and internal conflict, told BenarNews.

“This is probably the group’s last-ditch effort to garner support and is intended as a morale booster for its supporters,” he added. “Nonetheless, all countries, including India, have to be more cautious.”

A.S. Dulat, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency, doubted the substance of the threat, but agreed that security agencies should not take the warning lightly.

“Such a message does not have much meaning. It is a vague warning without any substance. However, one has to take cognizance of such warnings and agencies need to tread with caution,” Dulat told BenarNews.

BJP blamed for ignoring threat

Meanwhile, right-wing activists accused the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which heads India’s ruling coalition, of ignoring “rising Islamic terrorism” in India.

Amit Aryan, a member of Shiv Sena, a Maharashtra-based right-wing political party, challenged New Delhi’s claim that IS was not a threat to India, saying there was enough evidence to suggest the terror group was gradually widening its footprint in the country.

“There is already a standing order of IS for a major attack in India before 2019-20. There is already an online membership campaign for IS running across India. There is adequate evidence to suggest that the IS is gaining ground in India,” Aryan told BenarNews.

“Several representations have been made to the central and state governments, but they have chosen to remain silent,” he said.

‘IS cannot grow in India’

Although IS has openly goaded Muslims in India to wage war against cow-worshipping Hindus and has named India as an enemy country in its propaganda, India has consistently dismissed the possibility of IS gaining any significant support in the country – which has the second largest Muslim population in the world, next to Indonesia’s.

“Along with the alertness of the security, the Muslims in India are against the IS. They cannot grow in India as Muslims won’t allow them,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said last month, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

Minister for State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, one of BJP’s most prominent Muslim leaders, told news agency ANI recently: “India is a land of peace and prosperity and there is no place here for those who support terrorism. Patriotism is filled in every Muslim in the country. Be it videos or threats, it’s not going to make much difference.”

Naqvi’s remark came after a video, featuring Indian IS recruits urging fellow Muslims to declare war on Hindus, and which was apparently produced by the terror group, surfaced on Twitter last month.

According to Indian intelligence agencies, at least 23 Indians have left for Iraq and Syria to fight alongside IS. Of them, six have died in battle.

Since IS formed in 2014, security agencies have arrested about 30 Indian Muslims for allegedly working directly for IS or showing sympathy toward the group. At least 150 more are under surveillance for suspected leanings toward IS.

Shiv Sena’s Aryan said it was high time New Delhi paid heed to the evidence of an IS threat and sprang into action.

“The country would have to pay a heavy price if these warnings and activities continue to be ignored,” he said.

An earlier version reported incorrectly that the IS hit-list may have been the first of its kind.