--- description: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announces Indian branch, boosting his group's claims to be the world’s foremost jihadists title: Al-Qaeda Chief Launches New Wing to Launch Jihad in South Asia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cc5d881d6b33056/6986a1f3cd68483cba0964f2/rtr2r81y.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Al-Qaeda Chief Launches New Wing in South Asia by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 4, 2014 9:33 AM CUT  Al-Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is seen in this still image taken from a video released on Sept. 12, 2011 Al-Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is seen in this still image taken from a video released on Sept. 12, 2011Reuters TV by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 4, 2014 9:33 AM CUT Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on Wednesday [announced](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29056668 "undefined") the creation of an Indian branch, boosting his group’s claims to be the world’s foremost jihadists. In a 55-minute video posted online, al-Zawahiri urges Muslims to “wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty and to revive its caliphate,” reports the BBC. Counterterrorism experts say al-Qaeda’s announcement is another effort to compete with the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), which is successfully recruiting young followers from across the world to join its conflict in the Middle East. The two groups were previously aligned but fell out over ISIS militants’ brutality and expansion into Syria last year. Al-Zawahiri said al-Qaeda’s presence in the Indian subcontinent would free Muslims from oppression in Burma, Bangladesh and elsewhere across the region. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29056668 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3267144/al-qaeda-burma-myanmar-india-south-asia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3267144/al-qaeda-burma-myanmar-india-south-asia/"},"headline":"Al-Qaeda Chief Launches New Wing in South Asia","datePublished":"2014-09-04T09:33:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:00:07.470Z","description":"Vying with ISIS militants for jihadist followers, al-Qaeda launches a new chapter in the Indian subcontinent","url":"https://time.com/3267144/al-qaeda-burma-myanmar-india-south-asia/","keywords":["India","al-Qaeda","ISIS","Burma","Jihad","Bangladesh","myanmar","extremism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cc5d881d6b33056/6986a1f3cd68483cba0964f2/rtr2r81y.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cc5d881d6b33056/6986a1f3cd68483cba0964f2/rtr2r81y.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A photo of Al Qaeda's new leader, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, is seen in this still image taken from a video released on September 12, 2011","caption":"A photo of Al Qaeda's new leader, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, is seen in this still image taken from a video released on September 12, 2011","creditText":"Reuters TV","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3267144/al-qaeda-burma-myanmar-india-south-asia/","name":"Al-Qaeda Chief Launches New Wing in South Asia"}}]}] ```