SRINAGAR, 14 July 2006 — The Indian Army said yesterday it is evaluating a claim that Al-Qaeda has launched a wing in revolt-hit Kashmir, and if found to be true it would be a “cause of concern.” “The veracity of the statement will be evaluated by all the agencies and if it is found to be true then it is definitely a cause of concern,” said spokesman Vijay Batra.

Batra was reacting to a statement by a previously unknown group calling itself Al-Qaeda Jammu and Kashmir, that it was happy over the India train blasts. “The emir of Al-Qaeda Jammu and Kashmir, Abu Abdul Rehman Ansari, has appreciated those who took part in the Bombay blasts and expressed happiness,” the purported spokesman for the group told Current News Agency in a phone call.

He said the group has been formally launched yesterday. The claims could not be independently verified. “(Ansari) has said the blasts were the result of Indian oppression and repression of minorities, in particular Muslims,” the spokesman said.

He said Ansari had appealed to Muslims in India to “adopt path of jihad for freedom and Islam.” Tuesday’s rush-hour blasts in Bombay killed some 200 people and wounded almost 800. No one has claimed responsibility and leading Kashmiri militant groups have denied involvement.

In a statement read over the phone to Kashmir’s Current News Service, a man who identified himself as Abu Al-Hadeed reportedly said: “Whosoever has carried out the attacks in Bombay, we express our gratitude and happiness.” As word of the announcement spread, a senior intelligence official in Kashmir said the call had been placed from a local landline phone that authorities were trying to trace.

“Our immediate effort is to locate the caller and ascertain the authenticity of the claim,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media.

“The government is taking it very seriously.” Al-Hadeed said the Bombay bombings “are a reaction to what is happening to the minorities, especially Muslims in India,” the news service said.

Kashmir is in the grip of a 17-year-old insurgency that has claimed more than 44,000 lives by official count. The Himalayan region remains divided and bitterly disputed between Pakistan and India. New Delhi says Pakistan arms the militants, a claim it denies. Local residents, who have bore the brunt of the insurgency, said they were dismayed at the development.

“How can anyone rejoice killing of innocent people?” said Aijaz Ahmed, a bank employee. “No sane Muslim can term train bombings as jihad.” His friend Bilal Dar said if the new group is an extension of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda then “it is bad news for Kashmiris.” Militants in Kashmir frequently launch deadly car bomb and other suicide attacks in Kashmir, but the insurgency has been largely limited to local militants and sympathizers from neighboring Pakistan.

Indian security officials in the past have recovered photographs of Bin Laden from slain militants in Kashmir, but have rarely said there was a link between the rebels and Al-Qaeda. “Reports were being received by the agencies that there was a link between Kashmiri militants and Al-Qaeda but it could not be verified,” said Batra.

There have been allegations that militants fighting to wrest predominantly Muslim Kashmir from India have ties to Al-Qaeda, but yesterday’s statement is the first time Bin Laden’s network has claimed to have spread to Indian territory. “We appeal to Muslims in India to fight for freedom and Islam and choose jihad as their way to achieve freedom and establishing Islamic ways,” Al-Hadeed said.

What role, if any, an Al-Qaeda wing in Kashmir would play was unclear. “We shall be giving out statements regularly and will soon announce our aims and objectives,” Al-Hadeed was quoted as saying. Current News said Al-Hadeed spoke in Urdu. But he reportedly said: “Henceforth our statements will be in Arabic.”

—Additional input from agencies