NEW DELHI: In a major achievement for India, the US department of state on Thursday designated the chief and principal recruiter of Islamic State in India, Mohammad Shafi Armar, who also goes by his online name as Yousuf-al Hindi, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

Armar is responsible for forming several ISIS affiliated groups in India in the last three years including Junood al Khalifa e Hind (JKH), in which more than 50 Indian youngsters were recruited.

Shafi has reportedly become an important ally of IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and deputies in establishing the outfit in India. The US move not only verifies the identity and existence of the elusive ISIS India head but also clears rumours about his death in Syria. This also indicates that the report of his proximity with IS chief Abu Bakr al Baghdadi could well be true.

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NIA, during a countrywide crackdown last year, had arrested around 23 recruits of JKH, who had owed allegiance to the IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi on the directions of Armar. India had approached US and UN to designate Shafi Armar as a “global terrorist”.

The department of state has said that it had designated Mohammad Shafi Armar, Oussama Ahmad Atar and Mohammed Isa Yousif Saqar Al Binali as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals, or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

It is suspected that Shafi was in touch with at least 600-700 Indian youngsters on closed Facebook groups and messaging platforms like Trillion, Surespot, WhatsApp and Skype over the past few years.

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He even arranged funds - through transfers and hawala transactions - for IS recruits here. He sent some Rs 6 lakh to the module of Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh , whom Shafi made the ‘amir' of IS in India while keeping the larger ‘head’ designation with himself.

He is yet to be traced and is said to be operating from Afghanistan or Syria.

27-year-old Shafi, a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka, had taken over outfit’s India franchise after his brother Sultan Armar’s death in March 2015 in a US drone strike in Syria.

However, their identity and association with the ISIS was not confirmed until the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal who confirmed their links with the Islamic State.

Listed on the Interpol website, Shafi had recently formed JKH by dismantling the Ansar-ul-Tauhid (AuT). AuT was born out of Indian Mujahideen (IM) after Shafi and Sultan developed differences with Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, the Pakistan-based chiefs of IM, over misuse of funds received for terror activities.

AuT had pledged loyalty to IS and Shafi conducted talentscouting from his Syrian base.

“Mohammad Shafi Armar is a leader and head recruiter in India for the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, Islamic State.

He has cultivated a group of dozens of ISIS sympathizers who are involved in terrorist activities across India, such as plotting attacks, procuring weapons, and identifying locations for terrorist training camps,” said a statement in the United States state department website.



In Video: US designates principal recruiter of Islamic State in India a global terrorist