New Delhi: A “lone wolf” terror attack has become a “high possibility” in the coming days, security agencies have warned the government.
The security agencies have come across a 28-page online magazine, which has been written in Bengali and is meant for the readers of India and Bangladesh, titled Lone Wolf and published by “Balakot Media”. The magazine, which has several India-related specific details, surfaced in the last week of March, and has been shared widely among readers in India. India had carried out airstrikes at Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camps in the Balakot region of Pakistan on 26 February.
At the outset, the magazine has cautioned the “jihadis” to use secure network connection and protect themselves from network surveillance and data traffic analysis. The magazine has been divided into 14 chapters that deal with preparation, target selection, target profiling and operation planning.
The writers of the magazine have stated that “lone wolf” is the new form of jihad, which can do more damage to the “enemy” than a group of organised jihadis.
Perhaps the most “important” section of the magazine for the intelligence agencies is the part which talks about “target selection”.
Under this section, citizens of the United States, Israel, Britain, France, Australia, NATO countries (apart from Turkey) have been designated as valuable targets. It also calls for targeting CEOs of multinationals like Savron, Unilever, Nestlé and says that “for now do not target the ‘kaafir’ women”. Australia has come for special mention because it has been accused as sending “the maximum number of troops to NATO”.
It has also pinpointed other “targets” like American cultural centres and their staff, US-run schools and colleges, Australian International School, Australian citizens, citizens of New Zealand because of the recent mosque shooting, five-star hotels, famous restaurants, malls and night clubs, as these places have a lot of presence of citizens of the countries mentioned above.
The magazine also calls for not missing out on any opportunity to target Indian paramilitary personnel from the Border Security Force (BSF) (for “killing many Bangladeshi Muslims”), Indian Army, Rashtriya Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
It has called for targeting “India’s strong and staunch Hindu leaders and strong Hindu political leaders” and leaders of organisations who talk about “suppressing Muslims” like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Durga Vahini and Hindu Yuva Morcha. It goes on to say that: “We do not need to target any big persons from these organisations, anybody and everybody from these organisations can be our target and we can kill them.”
As per the magazine, the “lone wolves” can also set fire to goods trains and trucks coming from India to Bangladesh or going to India and also target ships going to America, France, Britain, India, Israel, etc., including ships carrying oil. It says that those who want to carry out such attacks should also recruit “like-minded” people by going through their profiles on Facebook.
“There are many foreign nationals and defence personnel from America, France, Britain, India, Israel who come to Dhaka and Mirpur to give training—they can be targeted.”
The brains behind the magazine have specifically mentioned UNHCR, Christian AID, Jaago Foundation (Bangladesh-based organisation) as targets as they believe they are converting Muslims into Christians.
It has also mentioned Germany-based media organisation Deutsche Welle (DW) as a specific target for “spreading a lot of same sex things, atheism, and a lot of nude and obscene things—they should be attacked”. It has mentioned the name of Debarati Guha, the head of DW Asia, as a target.
It has also given a list of people who should not be targeted. “But remember, do not target any Bengalis—be they Bengali teachers, students etc. However, any Brahmin and a person who believes and follows Brahmanism can also be attacked and these people can be attacked anywhere in the Indian subcontinent.”
“We are targeting India for how India is treating its Muslims as its second class citizens—see the atrocities India is carrying out on the Muslims of Kashmir; we cannot let this pass,” it says.
It has suggested that for those who want to enter India from abroad, should first go to Bangladesh and then enter India as the “Indian government has liberalised the visa policies for Bangladeshis—so therefore, it is now very easy to get an Indian visa and go into India and attack the Hindus in their own land that is in the Hindu land”. It also dissuades the attackers from using big trucks to “crush people” as the chances are that the intended targets might escape or escape with injuries.