New Delhi, Aug 29: The clamour to leave the country and join the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda either in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan has gone down drastically over the last year. While on one hand this is a positive development for India, the other part of the problem is about online radicalisation.

An official said that the trend of Indian youth leaving or trying to leave the country to join the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda had peaked between 2014 and 2023.

However, since 2024 there has been a change in that pattern whereby the number of youth leaving the country or even trying to leave, has gone down drastically.

The data collected and analysed by the Indian Intelligence agencies say that the clamour to leave the country to join these terror groups was highest in South India with Kerala and Tamil Nadu being the leaders.

Currently, the number has come down to almost nil. An Intelligence Bureau official says that while analysing the chat patterns between Islamic State radicalised individuals and their handlers abroad, there are no calls that are made to leave the country.

In fact both the handlers or recruiters of the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda are today encouraging these youth to stay back in the country and carry out activities, the official said.

The Islamic State in particular has completely changed its pattern of operations. Not just in India, it is not encouraging its recruits across the globe to leave the country. This shift in pattern is dangerous, agency officials point out.

The Islamic State wants its recruits to stay back in their respective countries and undertake radicalisation and terror activities.

An official said that this is a deliberate shift in pattern by the Islamic State. It wants to create mini-Islamic States in every country. In fact in India, it is not looking to create a pan-India Islamic State, but is focussing on region specific operations, the official added.

The terror group wants to create Islamic States in every region of the country ranging from the North of the country to the South, the official added.

Another official said that the major focus is however on South India. There has been a surge in online communication especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Scores of youth are approached by the Islamic State handlers from across the country. While those in their 20s and 30s have been targeted, the latest strategy to approach teenagers who are in schools and colleges has only added to the headache of the security apparatus.

Counter-terror experts say that the strategy to approach teenagers is a well-thought out one. They want to radicalise these persons as they are of an impressionable age. By the time these people are in their 20s, they are completely radicalised and extremely dangerous, the experts also point out.

Officials say that if one studies the recent investigations that have been conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), it become clear that the Islamic State has focussed largely on Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Interestingly these were the states that reported the highest number of Islamic State recruits that left the country and went to either Syria or Iraq.

Investigators have found that in recent times there have not been cases where recruits are asked to leave the country. Instead the handlers have tried to establish a ‘liberated zone,’ or ‘Al-Sham’ in Padgha where the recruits take an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State.

In recent cases, it has also been found that once the ‘bayath (oath of allegiance)’ is taken, then these persons are part of Zoom lectures, Telegram and WhatsApp channels.

On the face of it for the agencies tracking such lectures, it appears to be just religious study. When they go deep into these events, it becomes evident that these are indoctrination classes during which the participants are prepared to propagate violent Jihad in India.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had reported that around 155 cases were linked to the Islamic State.

The US Department of State estimated that 66 Indian origin fighters were associated with the terror outfit. Of these 21 alone were from Kerala.

These persons had left Kerala to join the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan.

Officials say that the number would have been way higher, but the Indian agencies carried out ‘Operation Chakravyuh’ by which scores of youth were tracked online and stopped from leaving the country.

While the agencies managed to stem to outflow into the Islamic State, the new scenario is a worrying one and the modus operandi has shifted from leave home to stay at home and propagate violent Jihad, an official noted.

Tehran, Aug 29: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Iran will negotiate with the United States, but remains wary of Washington, stressing that Tehran will honour its commitments only if the other side does the same.

Pezeshkian made the remarks in a televised interview broadcast on Friday night (local time), responding to questions about whether ongoing diplomatic efforts could revive the peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Iran and the United States in June and restore the Iranian nation’s rights.

“We can move forward” if Iran’s actions are met with reciprocal and proportional actions from the other side, the Iranian president said, acknowledging that the two sides might not achieve all their objectives.

Under the MoU, the United States was expected to lift a naval blockade and oil and petrochemical sanctions against Iran and release Iranian frozen assets.

Pezeshkian said Iran had exported nearly 90 million barrels of oil during the period when the agreement was being implemented, reports Xinhua news agency.

“The main issue is that we must be committed to the MoU we have written. When we sit down at the negotiating table, we can talk to them,” he said.

On June 18, the United States and Iran signed the deal on ending the war in the region on all fronts, including Lebanon. Under the MoU, they were scheduled to hold negotiations within 60 days, which ended on Aug. 17, to reach a final agreement.

The talks’ fate remains unclear following the escalation between the two countries last month.

Pezeshkian’s comments came as Iran continues to grapple with economic pressures at home.

In a separate message Friday marking Government Week, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called for “serious” attention to economic and livelihood challenges, including inflation, unemployment and the management of prices and markets.

Iran needs stronger economic growth, increased investment and a production boost, Khamenei said, describing greater reliance on domestic production as key to addressing the country’s economic difficulties.

Where domestic production cannot meet demand, imports should be used “properly and wisely,” he said.

Khamenei also called for maintaining national unity and protecting social cohesion, warning against using statements that lead to hopelessness and weaken national and public motivation.

The remarks came amid intensified US economic pressure on Iran. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump announced “the most crushing economic operation ever taken” against any country providing a lifeline to Iran.

“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump said in a social media post, calling the move “an ECONOMIC D-DAY.”

Kathmandu, Aug 28: Nepal Police said they had arrested two men for allegedly stealing gold earrings from the body of a woman who was swept downstream into the Narayani River during devastating floods in the country.

After a video showing the incident went viral on social media and sparked widespread outrage, police arrested the suspects after identifying them through an examination of the video. The footage showed two men pulling the woman’s body from the river before allegedly removing earrings from both her ears.

Nepal Police later shared a video, saying that the men allegedly involved in stealing the earrings from the dead woman had been taken into custody. A police official from the District Police Office, Chitwan, Suraj Budha, said the duo were arrested on Thursday.

According to a statement from the District Police Office, Chitwan, Madan Bhujel, 25, and Umesh Chaudhary, 38, both temporarily residing at Bharatpur Metropolitan City, in southern Chitwan district, were arrested near Pokhara Bus Park of the city.

Police also shared the video of the alleged theft and informed the public that the suspects had been arrested. In the viral video previously shared on social media, two men can be seen using wooden planks and the woman’s hair to pull her body out of the water. They then appear to remove earrings from both ears and place them aside. Several people can be seen standing around the scene, with some recording the incident on their phones.

Chitwan Police said their investigation established that the body had been swept away by the deadly floods that wreaked havoc in parts of the country and was carried into the Narayani River in the southern plains.

Police described the incident as an inhuman act at a time when people are suffering from the disaster. The arrests came as Nepal continues a massive search-and-rescue operation. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 478 people had been confirmed dead in the disaster by Friday noon, while 977 remained out of contact.

Meanwhile, Nepali authorities on Friday issued a fresh warning about the risk of another flood, stating that they had received a report of a lake outburst in the Tibetan region of China that could trigger fresh flooding in Nepal.