Saturday, April 25, 2009

No 'Jehad' in Kashmir, I was misled in Pak: HM militant





Plan disclosed, India can face another attack 
56 militants infiltrated in Valley, 32 killed: Army  
Pak militant, arrested on Saturday from Gurez sector warned the army of another Mumbai-like terror attack which can be launched by the terror operatives anytime.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from his possession, Army spokesperson Brig Gurmeet Singh said at a press conference on Saturday. 
According to the sources, as many as 120 militants have entered Indian borders. Out of these, 31 militants have been neutralized so far. About 89 militants are continuing with the mission to conduct another Mumbai-like blast in India.
The Hizbul Mujahideen militant, identified as Syed Moin-ul Shah, hails from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and underwent training in Mansera. He was caught while trying to return to Pakistan. Moin-ul Shah said, ‘We had a huge cache of arms and ammunition with us. We intend to conduct more attacks in India. We were all trained in Pak.'
The arms and ammunition – which include 10 AK-47s with 13,000 rounds, 32 Kg explosives, 14 RPG shells and 445 grenades – were recovered on a tip-off from the nabbed militant, from Gurez sector. Describing the situation in Kashmir as normal, a Pakistani militant of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) said he and others were misled that people here were not being allowed to offer prayers, women are molested and youths tortured by the Indian Army.
''I wanted to go back to my country as after visiting a number of areas here soon after my infiltration, I found people busy in their daily work,'' said the HM militant Syed Mainullah Shah, son of Badshah Rawan resident of village Katanpanjeer of Dir District in NWFP of Pakistan, who was arrested by troops in south of Shamasbari in Gurez sector about 10 days ago.
Talking to newspersons at the headquarters of 15 Corps here this afternoon, he said, ‘‘There is absolutely no Jehad.'' He said in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) people are being urged to join the Jehad (holy war) in Kashmir where Muslims are not allowed to offer prayer, women are raped and molested, youths tortured and put in jails.
I too decided to join the Jehad here and contacted a HM militant,'' he said, adding he received training with other militants in the forest area across the border.
He said different organisations, including HM, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat and Pir Panjal Range (PPR) are running training camps in Pakistan and PoK.
However, there was no Taliban militants in these camps and they are getting training in Afghanistan, he said.
Shah said there are three courses--21 days, 40 days and three months-- in these camps.
He said ''We were also told in the camps about grave situation and Human Rights (HR) violations being committed by the Indian security forces.
''We crossed into this part of Kashmir through snow-bound mountains from PoK,'' he said, adding there were 31 militants. Eight militants and guides were killed under a snow avalanche.
Army claimed that thirty-two militants out of fifty-six, who had infiltrated into Kashmir Valley this year, were killed in separate encounters in north Kashmir’s Kupwara and Bandipora district. 
“Twenty six militants had infiltrated through Drangyari and Hafruda forests in the Shamsbari range (Kupwara) and a group of 31 entered via Gurez sector in Bandipora. While twenty militants were killed in Kupwara, 12 others have been gunned down in Gurez,” Brigadier General Staff (BGS) of Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Brigadier Gurmeet Singh told reporters at the corps headquarters at Badamibagh here.
Besides the killings, the Brigadier also claimed that six militants, one porter and snow clearance man have been killed in avalanche that struck them in the Gurez sector. 
“The bodies are still buried under the snow,” said he, adding 89 avalanches were reported in the north Kashmir so far since January.  
Reports reaching Press Bureau of India said that the Brigadier claimed that 53 militants including the 32 infiltrators were killed in the valley this year. 
Army also presented a Hizb militant before the media whom the Brigadier claimed was arrested in Gurez sector and was part of the infiltrating group. 
“On the militant instances, army has recovered huge war like cache including 10 Ak 47 rifles, 12,876 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, RPG Launcher, 14 RPG shells, four UBGLs, 445 UBGL grenades, 06 Chinese, 21 rifles grenades, 32 kgs of explosives and other ammunition and detonators,” said Singh. The weapons were later displayed before the media. 
The arrested militant has been identified as Syed Moinullah Shah alias Wahid son of Badasha of North west province, Pakistan. 
After queried by the Brigadier, the militant, “big catch,” said that cadres belong to four militant outfits including Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jash-e-Mohammad and PEPR, a little known outfit.
“A group of 120 including 31 militants, 45 porters and snow clearance men infiltrated through Gurez,” said the militant, while responding to the questions.  
Regarding his arrest, the militant said that brother of the person, with whom he had entered the valley, took him directly to the army camp while as he had promised to manage his return safely to Pakistan. 
“I gave him Rs 1000 for getting rations and other things required during the travel through the difficult terrains and while I thought he was taking me towards the border area, I landed in an army camp,” he said. 
The arrested Hizb cadre categorically rejected the any connection exists between militants operating in Kashmir and Taliban fighters. 
“The militant outfits working in Kashmir have no connection with Taliban,” said the militant who army said stayed here for twelve days before his arrest. 
Gurmeet Singh, Brigadier General Staff, also claimed that the army was keeping a close track on the movement of the surviving militants and asserted that “they will be killed in near future.” 
He said that infiltration attempts were earlier than ‘expected’ this year. “The militants are being pushed into this side,” he said. The Brigadier also ruled out any possibility of Taliban presence in Jammu and Kashmir. “There is no conclusive evidence about the Taliban presence in Kashmir,” Gurmeet Singh said during the sidelines of the press briefing. 






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