Pakistan is trying to reconstruct the old network of woman overground worker (OGW), which used to work for Harkat-ul-Ansar — a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group operating in Kashmir
New Delhi: The deadly Pulwama attack rocked the nation a week after Maulana Abdul Rouf Asgar, the commander of Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad, said that Afzal Guru's death would soon be avenged.
According to intelligence reports, JeM has more than 40 active terrorists hiding in southern Kashmir. This means that attempts are being made to revive the terror module in the Valley, particularly for launching high-profile attacks which would shape the pattern of future terror attacks.
JeM was launched in the year 2000 by Masood Azhar, Asgar’s brother, in Multan, Pakistan, after India returned him to free the hostages of the IC-814 Indian Airlines flight in Kandahar, Afghanistan on December 31, 1999.
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Azhar formed the terror outfit with the ideology similar to that of al Qaida and Taliban. Since then, Azhar planned scores of suicide attacks across the Kashmir valley.
American experts believe that Pakistani intelligence agency ISI has some role to play in the Pulwama attack, which claimed lives of at least 40 CRPF jawans. Sources said further that Pakistan was trying to reconstruct the old network of woman overground worker (OGW), which used to work for Harkat-ul-Ansar — a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group operating in Kashmir.
A top police official told MyNation that Harkat was once a deadly outfit, but after the killing of most of its members by the security forces in Kashmir, the outfit changed its name to Harkut-ul-Mujahideen and recruited a lot of locals.
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The first person behind the revival of JeM in the Valley was Noor Mohammad Trali. He was responsible for coordinating and organising attacks at different places in Jammu and Kashmir.
The police source said that the Pakistani agencies have very well coordinated propaganda campaign to project the JeM.
"The matter of concern is that local youths are turning to suicide bombers. Not only that there is a possibility of the resurfacing of major terror strikes. It is high time for us to chalk out new strategies in Kashmir," he added.
After the 2016 Pathankot attack, JeM founder Azhar was charged by India with several major terrorist attacks. He had even threatened retaliation if the Pakistan government shut down his terrorist group’s operating against India.
Despite reports on an overall decline in the number of infiltration attempts and terrorists being killed in Valley, the new trend hints at a possible resurgence of a new form of deadly militancy in the Kashmir Valley.
Last Updated Feb 15, 2019, 2:14 PM IST