Fresh recruitment of local terrorists on the decline in Kashmir valley
As the total number of ‘active’ foreign terrorists are constantly going down due to successful anti-terrorist operations in different parts of the Kashmir Valley, the Pakistan army has started imparting fresh training to a new crop of ‘guerillas’ before pushing them inside the Indian territory to carry out attacks aimed at disturbing the peace in the region.
Indian intelligence agencies fear as the peace initiatives are gaining momentum and a flurry of political activity has started in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of assembly polls attempts would be made from across the LoC (Line of Control) to derail the peace process.
All eyes are also set on the All party’s meet convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on June 24.
On their part, the security forces are going to focus more on North Kashmir districts to track down their footprints and eliminate them inside their hideouts.
Leaders from different political parties have been invited to attend the first such dialogue with the central leaders after the Abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019[1].
The recent killing of a grass root level worker, Rakesh Pandita, belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the Tral area of Pulwama is a clear indication that the handlers of terrorist outfits were keen on disturbing the peace in the region[2].
By regularly targeting security forces at security checkpoints and lobbing grenades the frustrated terrorist leaders are sending clear signals to the security agencies about their presence in the area.
According to these assessment reports of the Indian Intelligence agencies, “out of 220 active terrorists in Kashmir Valley around 90-100 are foreign terrorists.[3]
Most of these remain active in North Kashmir areas and these days they are not moving from one place to another to avoid coming on the radar of the security forces”.
On their part, the security forces are going to focus more on North Kashmir districts to track down their footprints and eliminate them inside their hideouts.
To escape scrutiny by the security agencies the terrorist handlers are relying more on the network of Overground workers for incidents of grenade throwing, weapon snatching and hit and run strikes on patrolling/ Naka parties of paramilitary forces.
Before the ceasefire agreement, the Pakistan army had suffered huge damages due to strong retaliatory strikes by the Indian army on several vital military installations and fortified bunkers in the densely populated areas.
280 terrorists have been neutralised across Jammu and Kashmir in the last 18 months. Out of this over 50 have been eliminated in the first five months, mostly in South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian and Anantnag.
Director-General of J&k Police Dilbagh Singh said, “at present, the security forces have an upper hand over terrorists as a large number of their top commanders have been eliminated in several successful operations“. He said despite this regular attempts were made by pro-Pakistan terrorist outfits to target the security forces. We are maintaining high alert to defeat their nefarious designs”. DGP said that this year, only two foreign militants were killed in Kashmir and that a good number of foreign terrorists are still present in the Valley but they are lying low.
According to a fresh assessment made by the different intelligence agencies, “while peace has been prevailing along the LoC since February 25 but certain reports emanating from across the LoC clearly suggested Pakistan army has once again activated several training camps across Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK)“. “In some areas, Pakistan army is also seen imparting training to hardened guerillas alongside their regular soldiers to prepare them in advance for launching sensational terror strikes inside the Indian territory”.
One such common military exercise, which concluded recently in PoK saw the presence of a large number of fresh recruits who took part in the military training alongside Pakistan army regulars”.
The military training exercise was labelled as ‘Taskheer-e-Jabal‘ which means “Capturing the mountain“.[4]
Alongside regular soldiers of the Pakistan army, a large army of newly recruited youth also received arms and weapon training besides learning guerrilla warfare skills.
Intelligence agencies have already warned the counter-infiltration grid to remain in a state of high alert to prevent any successful infiltration bids from across the LoC to disturb peace in the region.
According to these assessment reports, “the military exercise by the Pakistan army was conducted recently in areas of Toli Peer in Rawalakot opposite Poonch sector, Kotli, Mangla and Bhimber” considered traditional routes of infiltration.
Before the ceasefire agreement, the Pakistan army had suffered huge damages due to strong retaliatory strikes by the Indian army on several vital military installations and fortified bunkers in the densely populated areas. Assessment reports also claimed during the military exercise the Pakistan army also fortified its defences deep inside the PoK to instil a sense of security among the local population in the area.
According to intelligence reports, this year the recruitment trend in Kashmir valley clearly suggested that fewer local boys have been recruited by the different terrorist outfits compared to three previous years.
According to a senior police officer posted in Srinagar, “around 40-50 local recruits have so far joined the ranks of different terrorist outfits till May end this year. In 2020 around 130 local youth had taken up guns in the first nine months while more than 140 youth had joined the ranks in 2019 and over 210 in 2018.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
References:
[1] June 24 PM Modi’s meeting with Kashmiri separatists fraught with dangerous ramification – Jun 20, 2021, PGurus.com
[2] Blood thirsty terrorists mercilessly killed another grassroots level BJP leader in Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district – Jun 03, 2021, PGurus.com
[3] Why Kashmir’s new militancy is harder to defeat than the one in 1990s – Jan 11, 2020, The Print
[4] PAKISTAN ARMY TRAINING FRESH CROP OF JIHADIS’ DURING THEIR ONGOING MILITARY EXERCISE ‘Taskheer-e-Jabal’ INSIDE POK – Jun 11, 2021, J&K News Wire
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Hope these recruits are not from Afghanistan,because US soldiers are being withdrawn from Afghanistan. since winter is setting in next month will be crucial as Pakistanis will have to face the harsh winter