Al Qaeda announces presence in J&K

The Al Qaeda terrorist outfit was launched in Jammu and Kashmir with its spokesman making the announcement in a telephone statement to a local news agency, Current News Service.

As per the bulletin issued by the news agency, Abu Hadeed, who claimed to be the spokesman of the outfit said, "The world will soon be made abreast of its aims and objectives."

The spokesman told CNS that Al Qaeda Jammu and Kashmir chief Abu Abdur Rahman Ansari has "expressed happiness over the Mumbai serial blasts and appreciated those who carried out these attacks."

"The Mumbai attacks were a reaction to the oppression in India of minorities in general and Muslims in particular," Hadeed told CNS on phone.

"Today we have laid the foundation of the outfit in Jammu and Kashmir. We will soon make our stand and objectives known to the world," he told the news agency.