New Delhi, July 10: Al-Qaeda has released a new video message of its chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri titled "Don't Forget Kashmir". In his video message, Ayman Al-Zawahiri asks "Mujahideen in Kashmir" to carry out attacks on the Indian Army. The Al-Qaeda terrorists called Pakistan's army and government as "toadies of America" and said Islamabad's rivalry with India is over the border issue.

"(I am) of the view that the Mujahideen in Kashmir - at this stage at least- should single-mindedly focus on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian Army and government, so as to bleed the Indian economy and make India suffer sustained losses in manpower and equipment," Zawahiri is seen saying in the video. A rife can be seen on his right and a Quran to his left. A picture of slain terrorist Zakir Musa flashes when Zawahiri talks about Kashmir. 3 Al-Qaeda and TTP Terrorists Killed in Pakistan's Punjab Province.

Zakir Musa, who was killed by security forces in May this year, was the founder of the Indian cell of the Al Qaeda, titled "Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind". In the video message, Zawahiri targetted Pakistan and said terrorists should not fall in the trap of Islamabad. "All the Pakistani Army and government are interested in is exploiting the mujahideen for specific political objectives, only to dump or persecute them later," he says. Top Al-Qaeda Commander Killed in Sahel, Says France.

Pakistan's "conflict with India is essentially a secular rivalry over borders managed by the American intelligence," Zawahiri added. He further called for unity among Muslims at a global level on the Kashmir issue and asked "unnamed" scholars to propagate this point. He also asked so-called Jihadis not to target "mosques, markets, and gathering places of Muslims" in Kashmir.

"You (the scholars) must clearly state that supporting the jihad in Kashmir, the Philippines, Chechnya, Central Asia, Iraq, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia, the Islamic Maghreb and Turkistan is an individual obligation on all Muslims, until sufficient strength is achieved to expel the disbelieving occupier from Muslim lands," Zawahiri says.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2019 02:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).