WASHINGTON — This job is murder.
If it includes benefits, guaranteed tenure definitely isn’t one of them.
Al Qaeda and ISIS are stepping up their recruiting efforts in Pakistan and other Southeast Asian countries in competition for new members — a sign of a deepening struggle for supremacy between the terrorist groups.
In a rare video, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the creation of a new terror offshoot, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, urging recruits to spread terror and carve out a new Islamic caliphate.
But rather than trembling at the new recruitment push, some terror experts say it reveals weakness on the part of the al Qaeda chief as ISIS grabs the limelight among potential jihadis with its gruesome killings and establishment of a caliphate in the heart of the Middle East.
“It’s an attempt by al Qaeda to recapture the initiative, recapture the headlines and recapture the imagination of jihadists. They are being badly overshadowed by ISIS,” terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann told The Post.
ISIS is known for its savvy in exploiting social media. It has launched a rival recruiting campaign in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the group is distributing pamphlets urging locals to join, the Pakistan Express Tribune reported.
But al-Zawahiri drones on for 55 minutes instead of opting for the type of quick message that dominates in the social-media universe.
The Egyptian-born Zawahiri, 63, even appears out of step with the location of the new franchise.
Although India is home to millions of Muslims and has suffered terror attacks like the 2008 attack in Mumbai, it hasn’t been fertile ground for jihadists or for al Qaeda.
The group has been active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but US airstrikes have decimated its senior leaders.
For a crazed young jihadi looking to do battle, the action appears to be in Iraq and Syria, where ISIS has proclaimed it is entrenched and is amassing a huge treasury, while capturing heavy weapons and expanding its domain.
That hasn’t kept al-Zawahiri — who has notably failed to comment on ISIS since leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed himself head of the world’s Muslims — from serving up a few rhetorical fireworks.
In the tape, the new al Qaeda group’s leader, Essam Omar, promises to destroy Jews and Hindus and vows that jihadis will “storm your barricades with cars packed with gunpowder.”