Why Is Al-Qaeda Talking About MiG-21 Fighter Pilot Abhinandan Who Shot Down Pakistani F-16?

Al-Qaeda is a notorious terrorist group known for carrying out several attacks in different parts of the world, including the United States and India, notably the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Al-Qaeda's Indian wing — Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) — has called for action against India in its monthly magazine 'Nawai-E-Ghazwatul Hind' according to the HT report.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, mentioned by the group, is the IAF pilot who shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 with a vintage Mig-21 fighter jet in an aerial dogfight between the IAF and PAF fighter jets, over the skies of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

In the dogfight, Wing Commander Abhinandan himself was shot down and captured by the Pakistan Army. He was later released by the Pakistan Army on 1 March 2019 through the Wagah Border, after India allegedly threatened missile strikes against military installations in the country.

It is this release that Al-Qaeda is lamenting about, accusing the Pakistan government and Army of betraying the 'Muslim cause' and abandoning militancy in Kashmir.

The AQIS magazine, while saying that the Indian government is 'spearheading the violence against Muslims in India’, asks the Pakistani Muslim population to rise up and support them while acknowledging the economic difficulty the Pakistani population is facing.

According to the report, Al-Qaeda is angry at the Pakistani government and Army, for not supporting terrorists in Kashmir and releasing Wing Commander Abhinandan after ‘serving tea’.

It is noteworthy, that Al-Qaeda’s Kashmir wing — Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind — was wiped out from Kashmir, in 2019, and has been unable to carry any terrorist attacks.

Al-Qaeda and its Indian wing, AQIS, have stepped up their propaganda war against the Indian state, since their wipeout from the Kashmir Valley.