A video claiming to be from the Al Qaeda's central command exhorts Muslims in the restive Indian-controlled Kashmir to emulate their fellow Muslims in Syria and Iraq and wage a jihad against Indian state.

The video, entitled "War Continues Message for Muslims of Kashmir," seems to have been uploaded recently on a website, from where statements of Al-Qaida's top leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman- al-Zawahiri and others have featured in past.

The Kashmir video bearing the hallmark of As Sahab, al-Qaida's in-house media production unit, contains an audio statement from Maulana Asim Umar Hafizulla, a leader of Al-Qaida's Pakistan cell.

The 12-minute video begins with a montage of photographs containing alleged police and paramilitary atrocities shot during 2010 unrest of the region, which saw more than 100 civilian protesters, mostly youths, killed during Indian police shootings.

The statement read in Urdu urged Kashmiri Muslims to join the global jihad movement and mentioned similar ongoing movements in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Algeria and Somalia.

The audio message, actually a sermon, is read with a silhouetted image of gun totting Indian paramilitary trooper overlooking Dal Lake of Srinagar as the backdrop.

"Now Muslims all over the world have picked up arms, are marching in the field of jihad. Even those who rejected armed jihad are now joining this path after being disillusioned with democratic ways of peaceful protests," the voice says.

The voice denounces protest demonstrations and urges Kashmiri youths to pick up arms and join the armed jihad.

"When the blood of martyrs is refreshing the entire Islamic world, who has replaced the Kalashnikovs from the hands of Kashmir 's Muslim youth with stones? On whose insistence the people in Kashmir, who once swore by the blood of their martyrs and boasted of continuing jihad until their last breath, had abandoned the path of jihad and are now dreaming to get freedom through protests, strikes and by raising hollow democratic slogans," the sermon continues.

"To wave Islam's flag over Srinagar's Lal Chowk (red square), convoys are heading from Afghanistan to liberate India and it is not being done on instructions of any intelligence agency, not as part of some government policy but simply to abide Allah's command, " the voice says.

The sermon also talks about jihadists were on way from Afghanistan towards Kashmir and the rest of India to realize a dream and tread upon the paths of Ahmad Shah Aabdali and Mehmood Ghaznavi (the Muslim rulers).

"Jihadis will unfurl Islamic flag on Red Fort and Mullah Omar will deliver a sermon from Delhi's historic grand mosque," the message says.

Assertions are rife that following the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in December 2014, the Taliban will enter Indian- controlled Kashmir to fight against the Indian army.

However, separatist leaders in the restive region so far have been critical of Taliban and Al Qaeda ideology.

The hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani last week condemned terrorist attack in Pakistani port city of Karachi and appealed to Afghanistan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to use his influence to stop the terrorist activities of Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against Islamabad. The attack left 38 people including the attackers belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) dead.

A guerrilla war is going on between militants and Indian troopers stationed in restive region since 1989. Firefight between militants and Indian army troopers in Indian-controlled Kashmir occurs intermittently.

Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday concluded a two- day visit of Indian-controlled Kashmir where he chaired a unified headquarters meeting and reviewed security preparations in the region. He was accompanied by Indian Army Chief Gen. Bikram Singh.

Jaitley said that he was quite satisfied with the security situation in the region. However, he did not brush aside the Al- Qaida threat.

"Obviously there are forces which are inimical to India, which would not like peace to continue but I am reasonably confident of the strength of India as state will not allow such elements to create trouble,"Jaitley told the media. "Even though I am optimistic, there is an element of caution in my optimism as people inimical to India will try to foment trouble."

Al- Qaida is now led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian-born veteran militant who took over after the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. The group has been making efforts in recent years to mobilize the nearly half a billion Muslims who live in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan is claimed by both in full. Since their Independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.

India has seen a worst terror attack in 2008 when militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant outfit attacked Mumbai - the financial capital of India. The assault left 166 people dead including 26 foreign nationals. The attack also left 300 wounded besides causing huge damage to public and private properties.

The attack saw suspension of talks between the two countries and brought New Delhi at the brink of war with Islamabad.