ISIS-K attempted suicide attack in India last year, says US official
Washington: The Khorasan group of the ISIS or the ISIS-K, which operates in south Asia, last year attempted a suicide attack in India, a top American official has told lawmakers.
In fact, of all the branches of the ISIS, ISIS-K is the outfit that is of the most concern to the US, Russel Travers, Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of Director of National Intelligence, said on Tuesday.
"Of all of the branches and networks of ISIS, ISIS-K is certainly one of those of most concern, probably in the neighbourhood of 4,000 individuals or so," Travers said in response to a question from Indian-origin Senator Maggie Hassan.
"They have attempted to certainly inspire attacks outside of Afghanistan. They attempted last year to conduct a suicide attack in India. It failed," Travers said when Hassan asked about the ability of ISIS-K to carry out terrorist attacks in the region.
Hassan had travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan last month, during which she said she heard firsthand the concerns of the US military about the growing and very real threat of ISIS-K, the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.
"I heard clearly that ISIS-K threatens not only US forces in Afghanistan, but also has designs on striking the US homeland," she said.
Last week, Travers had said that there were more than 20 ISIS branches globally, some of which are using sophisticated technology such as drones to conduct operations.
Despite America's key victories against the ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the terror outfit remains a deadly threat to the United States, Senator Hassan said.
Travers said ISIS-K tried a couple of years ago to inspire an attack in New York but the FBI interrupted. Then there was an attack in Stockholm in 2017 that killed five people, he added.
"So they certainly have a desire and the propaganda would indicate that they want to conduct attacks outside of Afghanistan as far relatively limited," the counter-terrorism official said.
According to Travers, after 9/11, the US was primarily focused on an externally directed attack capability emanating from a single piece of real estate along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
"Eighteen years later, we face a homegrown violent extremist threat, almost 20 ISIS branches and networks that range from tens to hundreds to thousands of people, al-Qaeda and its branches and affiliates, foreign fighters that flocked to Iraq and Syria from well over 100 countries, Iran and its proxies, and there is a growing terrorist threat from racially and ethnically motivated extremists around the globe," he said.
By any calculation, there are far more radicalised individuals now than there were at the time of 9/11, Travers told the lawmakers.
"This highlights the importance of terrorism prevention. While some aspects of the threat can only be dealt with through kinetic operations, the residents of the ideology will not be dealt with by military or law enforcement operations alone. The world has a lot of work to do in the non-kinetic realm to deal with radicalization and underlying causes," he added.
Travers also said that al-Qaeda retains its long-standing ties to the Haqqani Network and other militant networks active in Afghanistan and Pakistan that frequently target US personnel.
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Satyagraha sparks political storm in Kerala as CM accuses Centre of financial squeeze
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala saw a heated political showdown on Monday as state ministers led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to the streets with a Satyagraha, accusing the BJP-led Centre of squeezing the state financially.
What followed was a war of words, with the BJP hitting back hard and the Congress keeping its distance, turning the issue into a three-cornered political battle.
Standing before party leaders, ministers and supporters at the Martyrs' Column in Palayam here, Vijayan said Kerala had been pushed into an "extraordinary struggle" to protect its rights.
He told the gathering that the Centre was trying to "snatch away" what the Constitution had guaranteed to the states.
According to him, this was not just about money, but about dignity, federalism and democracy.
"This is a struggle for the survival of this land and its people. Believing that all authority rests in their hands, the rulers at the Centre are arbitrarily usurping our rights," Vijayan said, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that the funds given to the state during the NDA period were more than three times higher than what it received during the Congress-led UPA period.
"The present situation has compelled us to take to struggle in order to protect those rights. This is an extraordinary and grave circumstance," the veteran CPI(M) leader said.
He said the Union government was treating Kerala with bias and political vengeance.
The cuts in grants and borrowing limits, he claimed, were meant to choke the state financially.
Vijayan pointed out that Kerala was supposed to get Rs 12,000 crore between January and March, but was denied Rs 5,900 crore without any clear reason. This, he said, had made it difficult for the government to pay bills and run welfare schemes smoothly.
The CM also accused the Union government of centralising power and using money to reward states ruled by friendly parties while punishing opposition-ruled states like Kerala.
He reminded the people of how Kerala was denied permission to receive foreign aid during the 2018 floods and how support was lacking after the Wayanad landslide. These were, Vijayan said, clear examples of discrimination.
Rejecting claims of financial mismanagement, he said the state had continued to invest in welfare, development and jobs despite financial pressure.
Taking on Amit Shah's claim that Kerala received more funds under the Modi government, Vijayan said tax devolution was not a gift, but a constitutional right. He accused the Centre of interfering with the Finance Commission and quoted NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam.
"Subrahmanyam, who is currently serving as the CEO of NITI Aayog, has stated that soon after becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi exerted pressure on the Finance Commission to reduce the tax share of states," he said.
The chief minister said the Finance Commission had recommended 42 per cent for states and that there was an attempt to cut it to 33 per cent. He added that the Prime Minister had not denied this claim.
"When Amit Shah cites figures, he must also clarify these facts. Perhaps realising that none of this can be defended, he has now resorted to dreaming about a distant future," he said.
Calling for wider protests, Vijayan said Kerala would fight legally and politically to protect federalism and ensure its rightful share. He also criticised the Congress-led UDF for not standing with the state at this crucial time.
But the BJP hit back almost immediately. State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Left government was trying to fool the public.
He said a government that had ruled for nearly 10 years had no excuse to shift blame.
"A government that has ruled for 10 years should explain what it has done for the people. That is the basic courtesy in a democracy," Chandrasekhar told a press conference here.
He challenged Vijayan to a public debate on governance and finances. He claimed that Kerala received Rs 72,000 crore during UPA rule, but Rs 3.2 lakh crore under the NDA.
He argued that nearly Rs 7 lakh crore had come through central assistance and borrowings in the last decade, and over Rs 10 lakh crore including revenue receipts.
Chandrasekhar said central schemes worth Rs 16,000 crore were not implemented and pointed to water shortages, unpaid contractors and homelessness.
Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF chose not to join the protest.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan said his party would not be part of what he called political drama by the LDF.
He alleged an "unholy understanding" between the CPI(M) and the BJP and said the Left was pretending to fight the Centre while quietly supporting its policies.
"If we participate in such protests, we too will lose credibility," he said.
Later in a post on X, Vijayan said Kerala's share in tax devolution, grants and scheme funds have been reduced.
"We have suffered a total revenue loss of Rs 57,000 crores due to the Union Government’s financial discrimination against us."
He said the state was merely demanding what is rightfully owed to it, not any handout from the Union Government.
"Kerala stands firm in its resolve and will resist every attempt to subvert states' constitutional rights," Vijayan said.
