Hizb commander throws weight behind alQaeda’s J&K chief Musa

Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander Riyaz Naikoo in a surprise announcement has thrown his weight behind Zakir Musa, al-Qaeda’s Kashmir chief.

Naikoo, who had earlier said that Kashmiri separatist movement has nothing to do with global organisations like al-Qaeda and Islamic State, has apparently issued an audio statement claiming that militant organisations were “united to fight for freedom from India”. HT could not independently verify whether the audio statement was authentic or not.

“Militant organisations have no differences (in fighting against India). Sometimes there can be mistakes in understanding and there can be grievances of each other that does not mean we have differences among us,” Naikoo said dissociating from a recently issued video message against Zakir Musa.

“Somebody in a recent video had claimed to be from Hizb and blamed all the militant killings on Musa bhai. It is completely false and without any basis. The people talking in the video have nothing to do with Hizb,” Naikoo said showing support for Musa.

Naikoo said they are in touch with each other like they used to be. “We are all one. Our mission is one and our enemy is one. We all are fighting for Azadi for the sake of Islam and that is not possible till we are under Indian occupation. We have to get freedom from Indian occupation,” he said blaming Indian agencies for using social media to sow seeds of mistrust “among us”.

Naikoo, a 30-year-old postgraduate, had in July told a gathering at a militant’s funeral that linking “our struggle” with al-Qaeda and IS was a ploy to defame. The statement had come after Zakir Musa, who quit Hizbul in May, was allegedly chosen as the head of Ansar GhazwatUl-Hind by an al-Qaeda-affiliated propaganda channel.

Naikoo is a contemporary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, whose killing last year triggered unprecedented unrest in Kashmir and left more than 90 people dead in clashes with the state’s security forces.