(Image source from: India.com)

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), set up by Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2014 to enlarge the terror group's influence in the region, is "ideologically inclined" to do attacks inside India but its competence is supposed to be low and is relatively isolated owing to increased security measures, according to a United Nations report.

The Al-Qaeda's regional affiliate - AQIS, is led by Asim Umar - an Indian and former member of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami.

The 22nd report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, submitted to the UN Security Council Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, said that AQIS is "relatively isolated owing to increased security measures within the wider region, but the group continues to seek security gaps for opportunistic attacks."

In September 2014, Zawahiri had proclaimed the formation of Al-Qaeda's regional affiliate AQIS, taking benefit of sanctuaries in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

"A new branch of Al-Qaeda was established - Qaeda al-Jihad in the Indian subcontinent, seeking to raise the flag of jihad,…and return the Islamic rule across the Indian subcontinent," Zawahiri had said at the time.

An earlier report had said that battalions of AQIS operate as consultants and trainers of the Taliban, with 150 to 180 operatives present in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

They employee workers from distant parts of India and Bangladesh.

Noting that Al-Qaeda still maintains a presence in South Asia, the latest report said the group adapts to the local environment, trying to embed itself into local struggles and communities and is closely allied with the Taliban.

According to one Member State, although the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), poses an instant danger, Al-Qaeda is the "intellectually stronger group" and remains a longer-term peril.

The report added that some members of the Al-Qaeda core, as well as Zawahiri and son of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Hamza bin Laden, are stated to be in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas.

By Sowmya Sangam