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Asim Umar

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Asim Umar
BornBetween 1974 and 1976[1]
Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India[1][2]
Died23 September 2019
Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Allegianceal-Qaeda
Service/branchal-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
RankEmir of AQIS

Asim Umar (1974/1976 – 23 September 2019) was a Pakistani militant[3] and the leader of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri announced the creation of AQIS and introduced Asim Umar as its leader in a video posted online in September 2014.[4]

History

He was born between 1974-76 in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India.[1] He attended the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary, before leaving India and moving to Pakistan in the late 1990s.[2] They also claim that from the late 1990s to 2004, Umar provided ideological training to jihadists in camps run by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in Pakistan Administered Kashmir, before relocating to HuM’s office in Haroonabad in 2004.[5]

Umar studied at Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia in Karachi and the Darul Uloom Haqqania in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, schools that many top commanders of the Taliban and other Pakistani jihadist groups graduated from. His friend in Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia, Moazzam, said of him that at that time "he was known for his very strong views against democracy and in favor of jihad. He could be described as a Pakistani version of Anwar Awlaki, who was good in indoctrination too."[6] Before joining militancy, he was himself a teacher in a madrassa in Karachi and used to translate jihadist literature from Pashto to Urdu.[7]

Umar is said to have traveled to Afghanistan where he met Osama bin Laden, and later joined Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI), a Pakistan-based Jihadist group with branches across the Indian Subcontinent.[4] Umar's affiliation with Al-Qaeda was reportedly solidified after the Pakistani government's 2007 storming of the radical Lal Masjid seminary, resulting in the deaths of many students.[2] He is said to have made contact with Ilyas Kashmiri, a top jihadist with close links to al-Qaeda.[2]

Umar quickly began playing a prominent role as a propagandist in video releases from al-Qaeda and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and authored at least four books promoting jihad.[4][8] By April 2014, several months before being named leader of AQIS, Al Qaeda was identifying Umar as the head of its sharia committee in Pakistan.[9]

Umar died in an airstrike in the Afghan Province of Helmand on 23 September 2019. Forty civilians and six other Al-Qaeda militants were also killed in the operation.[10]

Writings

He "has written a number of conspiracy theory books", centered around Islamic eschatology and the Dajjal, that he himself translates from Urdu into Arabic, Pashto and Uzbek languages, including :[11]

  • Dajjal Ka Lashkar: Black Water (Army of Anti-Christ: the Black Water)
  • Teesri Jang-e-Azeem Aur Dajjal (World War III and Dajjal)
  • Imam Mehdi ke Doost aur Dushman (Friends and Foes of the Mahdi [Messiah])
  • Bermuda Tikon aur Dajjal (Bermuda Triangle and Dajjal)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Counter Terrorism Designations and Removals". United States Department of the Treasury. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Al-Qaeda chief in region may be of Indian origin: Intel agencies". Indian Express. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  3. ^ Asim Tanveer, Maria Golovnina (9 September 2014), "Al Qaeda's shadowy new 'emir' in South Asia handed tough job", Reuteurs. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Al Qaeda's shadowy new 'emir' in South Asia handed tough job". Reuters. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  5. ^ "More Qaeda-Pak links: AQIS chief was at 'ISI' PoK camp". Indian Express. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  6. ^ Ali K Chishti (26 September 2014), "Target: Karachi", The Friday Times. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. ^ Basit, Abdul. “Asim Umar - ‘New Kid on the Block’?” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, vol. 6, no. 10, 2014, p. 9.
  8. ^ "Pakistani Taliban leader discusses 'global jihad,' Syria in al Qaeda video". Long War Journal. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Social Media Jihad: Open interview with al Qaeda's sharia official in Pakistan". Long War Journal. 9 April 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  10. ^ Asim Umar: Al-Qaeda's South Asia chief 'killed in Afghanistan'
  11. ^ Dr. Farhan Zahid, "A Profile of Asim Umar: Amir of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinet"


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