Goa is the Islamic State’s top target on India hitlist

NEW DELHI: Goa tops the list of Islamic State ( IS) targets in India, the interrogation of suspected members of the terror organisation by enforcement agencies has revealed. ISIS seeks to attack foreign tourists and Indian security forces in the state for global publicity and to boost the morale of its South Asia adherents. Interrogators also said that the ISIS is scouting for a site in India to train its fighters.

Government sources told Hindustan Times that the socalled Amir- e- Hind of ISIS, Muddabbir Mushtaq Sheikh of Mumbra, Thane, told interrogators of plans to explode bombs in Goa with foreigners as the main target. In fact, ISIS members in India had planned to bomb Goa in December 2014 — the month when tourist inflow from Europe, US and Russia is the highest but were intercepted by the intelligence agencies.

In the past four months, Indian agencies have picked up 23 ISIS suspects from various states, including a five-member Roorkee module that planned to bomb Haridwar. Of the 23 arrested, one is a recruiter and another is responsible for the December 2014 Church Street blast in Bangalore. There are no less than 30 IS Indian recruits fighting in Syria and Iraq; unconfirmed reports says six of them have been killed.

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