According to the security forces, this is not something common but the fear of elimination has brought different terror outfits like Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed together.
New Delhi: After a series of crackdowns by the security forces, the synergy between the terrorists of different terror outfits is at the forefront. According to the security forces, this is not something common but the fear of elimination has brought them together.
Indian security forces continue to flush out terrorists from the Kashmir valley, specially post Pulwama attack, in which a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber targeted a CRPF bus in which 40 jawans were killed.
In the last month, forces have gunned down over two dozen terrorists in Kashmir, including terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen. This year so far forces have managed to eliminate 50 terrorists.
These crackdowns have forced the terrorists to work together and look for new hideouts.
On Thursday, three terrorists were neutralized in an encounter in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. They have been identified as Sajad Khanday, Aqib Ahmad Dar and Basharat Ahmad Mir and are all residents of Pulwama. They were also members of terror outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
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According to senior officials, these terrorists, despite having a common cause, have never operated together. Fearing elimination, they have now formed a combined unit.
LeT mostly consists of Pakistani terrorists while Hizbul is also Pakistan backed but recruits local people in their outfit. It is Pakistan based trained terrorists who radicalize and further train Kashmiri youths to fight against security forces.
According to intelligence agencies, terror groups have been asked to shut down terror camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), fearing action by the Indian Army. Camps and offices of terrorists in areas like in Kotli, Nikial have also been closed.
Two other Jaish-e-Mohammed camps are in Pala and Bagh area, while another one in Kotli is being run by Hizbul Mujahideen.
The Army claimed that there has been a significant dip in fresh terror recruitment in the last two months and the number of locals participating in funeral processions of militants has reduced.
“Kashmiri youths are only radicalized with very little training. They could not sustain long in any encounter,” said a senior official.
In 2018, over 250 militants were killed in Kashmir which was the highest in a decade while 217 ultras were killed in 2017.
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