New Delhi: A chapter from Kashmir’s bloody militancy days is likely to make a comeback, with intelligence reports suggesting that Pakistan is making an attempt to push as many as 100 battle-hardened terrorists from Afghanistan into the Valley.
The reason, according to defence sources, is the “low shelf-life” of local Kashmiri militants, who don’t have adequate training and are frequently killed in encounters.
The intelligence inputs suggest that, over the past two weeks, nearly a dozen potential infiltrators of Afghan origin have been identified at a terrorist launchpad at Lipa valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), opposite Uri and Tangdhar sectors of Jammu & Kashmir.
This is seen as part of the Pakistan deep state’s response to the Modi government’s decision to remove Article 370 and bifurcate Jammu & Kashmir into two union territories.
Defence sources said the aim is to ensure attacks in Kashmir, targeted at government forces and officials.
Also read: Security forces say ready to handle violence along LoC, in Kashmir once restrictions ease
A JeM-Taliban nexus
The fresh intelligence inputs also referred to a meeting in Pakistan’s Bahawalpur, where the Masood Azhar-led terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is based, on 19-20 August, which was attended by “launch commanders” or terrorist handlers.
The meeting, according to the inputs, was chaired by Azhar’s brother Rauf Asghar, and aimed at working out ways to push these foreign fighters into India.
The inputs also talk about a 10-day refresher training course held recently in Mansehra at PoK, where a recruitment drive was also held.
The JeM is responsible for the 14 February terrorist attack in Pulwama, carried out by a local youth, that killed 40 CRPF personnel. Amid the ensuing international outrage, India succeeded in getting a UN global terrorist designation for Azhar.
The intelligence inputs about the planned infiltration by Afghan terrorists come months after a dossier put together by India following the Pulwama attack hinted at a developing nexus between JeM and the Taliban, the primarily-Pashtun terrorist organisation that has waged bloodshed in Afghanistan for years.
Also read: Why the Pakistani deep state sponsors terrorism in India
To internationalise Kashmir
Pakistan’s fresh bid to push foreign fighters into India is reminiscent of what it did in Kashmir in the early and mid-1990s, when Afghan terrorists were pushed into the Valley at the height of militancy.
Intelligence inputs received in the wake of the Article 370 move suggested that the Pakistan army was expected to pump in arms and terrorists into Kashmir, besides orchestrating an attack.
It is expected that as and when a peace deal is struck between the Taliban in Afghanistan and the US, many of those fighting the American forces could actually be moved towards Kashmir.
Pakistan has been pushing hard to internationalise the Kashmir issue, something India is completely opposed to. According to sources in the security establishment, Pakistan believes that other countries will be drawn in if violence intensifies.
Also read: LeT a loyal arm of Pakistani military establishment, says American terrorism expert
Read a thoughtful column by Shri A S Dulat in The Telegraph. He echoes the Petraeus Doctrine that insurgencies cannot be defeated by force alone. They require the local population to be won over. 2. As far as terror being pushed into India from Kashmir is concerned, the ISI and its proxies are an obvious threat. There could also a danger from independent actors like ISIS. 3. As a lay person, one cannot judge whether the recent changes strengthen our hands to deal more effectively with these potent threats or expose us to the risk of external forces tapping into strong local resentments.
What a foolish argument! Is Kashmir about regional identity or communal identity. Why do they raise JeM and ISIS flags if they are demanding freedom, This is a lavish bubble in which Lutyens think tanks flourish. Kashmir militancy was and is about radical Islam, there are 2500+ mosques alone in Srinagar. Pandits were thrown out of their homes not because of their regional identity but because they were Hindus. If they want to have an Islamic state they can migrate to PAK, and i am as blunt as i can be. Kashmir is ours and whoever will even try to look at with malicious agenda will not be spared. Keep this shitty AMAN KI ASHA with u. There will a new political discourse and it will be about to regain statehood and not separate from INDIA.
People of kashmir valley, Kargil district and muslim dominated districts of Jammu have become so hostile towards India that now none is needed from pakistan to intensify struggle for freedom from indian rule.
Like a match in a monkey`s hand, modi/mota bhai not only lit the match but also poured plenty of gasoline before that.
Unfortunately Kashmir will remain a cesspool of counterinsurgency grid for indian security forces for the time foreseen.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Trump has set a September 1st deadline for peace deal in Afghanistan. Hence Pakistan would be in a position to move some Taliban fighters post the peace deal. However, one is sceptical if a peace deal would fructify by then. Trump plans to maintain a scaled down presence even after the probable deal. Hence India might have to brace itself for some violence in the near future before the onset of winter snow. Pakistan would have to factor in that the UNGA would be in session in September and the crucial FATF ruling slated for October. Hence prudence demands that Pakistan eschews violence and resigns to the relinquishment of Kashmir and instead, work to uplift it’s citizens. But does Pakistan have that wisdom???
Pakistan Is A Jihadi Terrorist Enterprise So It Will Continue It’s Business Till It Breaks Into 4!! This Pseudo Islamic State Will NOT Yet Send Jihadis To China But One Day They Will Get There Too!!
Meanwhile, Thanks To Pakistan’s & Islamic Nations Support, #Xinjiang, #China’s #Concentration Camps have achieved what they had set out to do!! #Uyghur #Muslims Now openly RENOUNCING #ISLAM.
Go in as a #Muslim. Leave As an Atheist!!
Lessons For India & The World??!!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1164137812905644032
People in Pakistan hope this is not true. Our economy is sinking. We saw how isolated we are in the last 2 weeks.