Union home minister Amit Shah has directed Jammu and Kashmir Police and the security agencies to refrain from using names of new terror outfits in Jammu and Kashmir as they were only derivatives of Pakistan-based globally proscribed groups and designed by Rawalpindi to spread the narrative of home-grown terror in the Valley.
The home minister’s directions came after the intelligence inputs indicated that Pakistani ISI wanted terrorist groups like Lasker-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) not to take credit for any strikes in the UT, perhaps due to pressure from Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and allow the new spawns to claim responsibility for any successful terror attacks. While LeT has been asked by ISI to maintain a low profile, the Jaish has intensified its focus on the Sialkot-Shakargarh sector as well as the Bhimber-Samani sector with increased infiltration and violence against innocents in the name of Islamic Jihad.
While the ISI under what is called “Project Eastwala” is trying to re-energize 1990s terror outfits like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI), the UT of Jammu and Kashmir has seen a spurt of new terror outfits like The Resistance Front, Tehreek-e-Millat-e-Islami, Ansar Ghawat-ul-Hind and Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force. Albeit mere derivatives of Lashkar and Jaish, the so-called new outfits have been created to spread the narrative that jihad against Indian forces had spread in the Valley and that the entire violent movement was locally sponsored with homegrown jihadists. These outfits have been created out of erstwhile terror elements who had undergone terror training in Pakistan in the past and were not active on account of having been arrested and released after serving jail sentences or were exposed to the security agencies.
A part of the new terror strategy is the use of explosive-laden drones to carry out direct attacks on targets with a payload capacity of over 5 kilograms and with a range of over three kilometres.
It is understood that while recently conducting the security review of J&K, HM Shah said that the names of original Pakistan-based terror groups should be taken by the police and security agencies so that the world is aware of the role that Pakistan is playing in promoting jihad in the UT.
