Barack Obama told us repeatedly while he was in office that al-Qaeda was “decimated” and “on the path to defeat.”

“Al-Qaeda getting more active in Indian subcontinent: US experts,” Kashmir Observer, July 15, 2017:

Washington—Al Qaeda is getting more active in the Indian subcontinent and by 2017, it boasted several hundred members, with its cells mostly in Afghanistan and its operatives flourishing in Bangladesh, counter-terrorism experts have told the US lawmakers.

“By 2017, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent boasted several hundred members and had cells in Afghanistan’s Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Ghazni, and Nuristan Provinces. Al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan was almost certainly larger and more expansive than five or even ten years ago,” said Seth G Jones, a strategic expert.

He was speaking during his Congressional testimony before US’ House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence yesterday.

This expansion, Mr Jones said, may have been partly due to Taliban advances in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda’s relationship with operatives from the Taliban and other groups, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e Jhangvi. “Al Qaeda operatives in Bangladesh were particularly active, conducting a range of attacks. In addition, Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent conducted a steady propaganda campaign from its media arm As-Sahab,” he said.

In September 2014, Al Qaeda terrorist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had announced the creation of regional affiliate Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, taking advantage of sanctuaries in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. “A new branch of Al Qaeda was established — Qaeda al-Jihad in the Indian subcontinent, seeking to raise the flag of jihad,…and return the Islamic rule across the Indian subcontinent,” al-Zawahiri had said.

The group was led by Asim Umar — a former member of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami — a Pakistan-based terrorist group with branches across the Indian subcontinent. Umar was flanked by Abu Zar, his first deputy….