Azhar was involved in the planning and execution of several terror attacks, including the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 (1999), attack on Parliament (2001), and attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot (2016).

China sought to defend its move. “We need more time to assess the application to sanction this individual,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing while replying to a question. Wang said the 1267 Committee of the UNSC has clear provisions about designating terrorist organisations and officials.

This is not the first time that China has obstructed the listing of terrorists in the 1267 Sanctions Committee. In June this year, China placed on hold a joint proposal by India and the US to list the deputy chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Abdul Rehman Makki, in the sanctions list. Makki was involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youths to resort to violence and planning attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror attacks (2008), according to sources.

Terror tag against Sajid Mir also blocked

Agian on 17 September, China supported Pakistan by blocking a joint proposal moved by US and India to designate Muridke based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)’s chief architect of 2008 Mumbai attacks Sajid Mir as specially designated global terrorist by the 1267 Al Qaida Sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.

This was the third proposal that has was put on hold by China after LeT’s top leader Abdul Rehman Makki, brother-in-law of designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed, and Jaish-e-Mohammed’s operational terror commander Mufti Rauf Azhar, younger brother of Masood Azhar.

Sajjd Mir was the key handler of the ten LeT terrorists who wreaked mayhem in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, in which over 166 Indian and foreigners including US nationals were gunned down. The 26/11 operation was a joint venture between Pakistani ISI and LeT and was controlled from Karachi. Mir was convicted by the Pakistani court in June 2022 for 15 years after Islamabad had declared the terrorist dead for many years.

The conviction was clearly done to seek brownie points with the FATF so that Pakistan is removed from the under watch “Grey List” of the global terror finance tracking watchdog. Since 2008, Mir was under protective custody of Pakistani deep state and was handling recruitment for the proscribed LeT. Intelligence inputs suggest that Mir had undergone facial surgery and was living on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Mir had joined the terror group after a career in Pakistan Army. During his stint in the army, he trained terrorists, expanded Lashkar’s reach across at least three continents, and plotted terror attacks in countries like Australia, Virginia in the United States and France.

Willi Brigitte, the French former naval cadet who joined terror ranks, revealed in an interrogation that Mir had ties to al Qaeda in Afghanistan and had direct access to Lashkar’s military chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. The Lashkar terrorist was handling the terror group’s overseas operatives and coordinated with the foreign recruits at the LeT headqua<

According to intelligence officials, Mir had passed himself off as a cricket fan to enter India in April 2005 and conducted reconnaissance of the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun and the National Defence College.

The US intelligence agencies later figured that it was Mir who ordered the Lashkar terrorists to take the head shot at the Holtzberg couple at Chabad House in Mumbai during the massacre.

Abdul Rehman Makki Case

A joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a “global terrorist” was blocked by China in June 2022.

In November 2010, the US Department of the Treasury designated Makki as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. As a result of this designation, among other consequences, all property, and interests in property, of Makki that are subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Makki.

The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering a reward of up to USD 2 million for information on Makki, “also known as Abdulrahman Maki”.

Makki has occupied various leadership roles within Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO). He has also played a role in raising funds for LeT operations.

“In 2020, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted Makki on one count of terrorism financing and sentenced him to prison. The United States continues to seek information on Makki because the Pakistani judicial system has released convicted LeT leaders and operatives in the past,” according to information on the Rewards for Justice website.

Masood Azhar Case

In May 2019, India had won a huge diplomatic win at the UN when the global body designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist”, a decade after New Delhi had first approached the world body on the issue.

A veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China was the sole hold-out in the 15-nation body on the bid to blacklist Azhar, blocking attempts by placing a “technical hold”. All decisions of the committee are taken through consensus.

In 2009, India moved a proposal by itself to designate Azhar. In 2016 again India moved the proposal with the P3 – the US, the UK and France – in the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee to ban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base in Pathankot in January 2016.

In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar proposal again. However, on all occasions, China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, blocked India’s proposal from being adopted by the sanctions committee.

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Beijing’s move makes the communist nation a tacit supporter of terror groups based in Pakistan. It is now quite evident that any move by India with the support of P-5 sponsors will be blocked by China in support of Islamabad. The quid pro quo in this case is evidently the total silence from Pakistan over Chinese human rights violations and atrocities against Sunni Muslims in restive Xinjiang or East Turkestan province.

India has every reason to condemn China’s attempts to shield Pakistan, a notorious abettor of cross-border terrorism, on global platforms. The onus is on the international community to call out Beijing for its tacit support to Pakistani-origin terror, which poses a constant threat to peace and stability in South Asia.

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The officials also exposed the role of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the 2008 Mumbai attacks before the CTC by playing an audio clip of top LeT operative Sajid Mir, in which he can be heard giving instructions to the attackers at Chabad House, a Jewish outreach centre where several Israeli citizens were killed.

The officials were briefing the members of the CTC during an informal session held at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, one of the main targets of the attacks carried out in November 2008 by a 10-member LeT team.

Mir was arrested by Pakistani authorities and convicted of terror financing earlier this year, just ahead of a plenary meeting of the FATF. This followed years of claims by Pakistan that Mir was dead, an issue highlighted by one of the two intelligence officials who made the briefings. The terror-financing watchdog removed Pakistan from its grey list last week after more than four years.

In his presentation before the CTC, senior Intelligence Bureau officer Safi Rizvi said without naming Pakistan: “The FATF grey-listing of a troublesome jurisdiction and UN designation of Jaish-e-Mohammad [in 2001] and Lashkar-e-Taiba [in 2005] as well as nine India focused terrorist individuals have been able to create an impact by bringing down attacks on hard targets in Kashmir, reduction of terror bases across the border, open raising of funds and open terror activity between 2018 and mid-2021.”

He specifically mentioned the FATF listing of Pakistan, saying it provided India “a window of relative peace”.

“The FATF, in the last 10 years, has been a very effective tool to implement those very [UN] designations. While there were intelligence-led counter-terrorism operations, Balakot airstrikes [after the Pulwama attack of 2019] and removal of Article 370 from Kashmir which pushed the terror infrastructure in a troublesome jurisdiction [Pakistan], a large portion of the credit goes to FATF grey listing and the UN designation,” Rizvi said.

“In the mid of 2018, there were 600 terror bases across the border, which went down by 75% during FATF listing. This, we think, is the most important success, on account of which the counter-terrorism community should take a deeper look at as to how effective designations are,” he added.

He, however, expressed concerns that Pakistan’s removal from the grey list has already led to an increase in terrorist activity in India. “The moment talks started that grey listing [of Pakistan] is about to end, things have started to slide back. There is an increase in terror bases by 50% and we are expecting more scalable attacks on hard targets, and much more trouble,” Rizvi said.

By hard targets, the officer meant well-defended government establishments and military camps in Kashmir.

Earlier, in a presentation on terrorism, Pankaj Thakur, joint secretary in the home ministry, said the Mumbai attackers were trained in Muzaffarabad in June-August 2008 and were given motivational speeches by LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

The attackers were also trained at Muridke near Lahore for two months in matters such as hostage-taking. In September 2008, they received marine training, including GPS-based navigation. When they infiltrated Mumbai, the attackers remained in constant touch with their LeT handlers through VoIP phone. Among the key conspirators was an ISI official identified only as Major Iqbal, Thakur said.

Thakur played the audio of Sajid Mir, in which the LeT operative responsible for surveillance of the targets in Mumbai, can be heard giving instructions to terrorists who were at Chabad House. He said a proposal for sanctioning Mir at the UN Security Council was on hold.

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The Popular Front of India (PFI) was registered at Delhi under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 with the purpose to establish a classless society in which freedom, justice and security are enjoyed by all. The PFI has its headquarters in New Delhi, is present in almost 23 states and is prominently active in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The organisation was using passive methods to attain larger goals and objectives which run against India’s social fabric. It was found to be involved in several transnational terror activities and many social and political conflicts in India.

PFI members were exposed as ‘ISIS sympathiser’ on Facebook and linked with Harkat Ul Jihad al- Islami, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Al Qaeda.

The PFI was regarded as a reincarnation of the National Development Front (NDF) set up in 1994 in Kerala. In 2006, the NDF was dissolved and re-emerged with the name of PFI, presumably to focus on socio-economic issues ailing minorities – in particular the Kerala-based Muslim community.

The PFI is not just a reincarnation of the NDF – instead there exist multiple shells of organisations within organisations out of which the PFI has emerged.

In 1948 the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) came into existence. The IUML is a political party in Kerala, recognised by the Election Commission of India, which later became the leading party as a part of the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Indian National Congress in Kerala since the 1970s.

Next came in line was the Islamic Sevak Sangh (ISS) established in the state of Kerala in 1992 so as to counter the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – which was also a pan-Islamic movement in nature claiming to be superficially working for the welfare of minorities.  

However, the ISS came into limelight during the Babri Mosque demolition in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, in the year 1992. It was eventually banned by the government of India. It was discovered that ISS leaders had connections with the ISI in Pakistan. 

As the government proscribed the ISS, it made way for another organisation called the National Development Front established in 1994 in Kerala and intending to focus on socio-economic issues of minorities, especially on Muslim communities in Kerala. NDF’s modus operandi is Da’wa – which means it is missionary in nature, propagating Islam to other communities as well.

The NDF came into limelight only after some among the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) started getting noticed for their extremist jihadi activities and for their call for the liberation and Islamic conversion of India.

One of the members of the SIMI, Prof. P. Koya, began to attend mosque prayers and sponsor post prayer gatherings interactions with the Jamaat-e-Islami in Kerala. He formed another group called the National Democratic Front (NDF). 

After the SIMI was banned in 2001 (after 9/11), the NDF reincarnated itself as the Popular Front of India in 2006.

Interestingly the PFI’s preamble also mentioned that it worked towards socio-economic, cultural and political empowerment of the deprived. Its goals included working for the welfare of Dalits; tribal peoples; religious, the linguistic and cultural minorities; backward classes and women. With these objectives, the PFI justified its existence under the Societies Registration Act (PFI, Constitution).

The PFI’s Modus Operandi

Even though the organisation came into existence aiming for Muslim empowerment, the PFI’s modus-operandi has been to showcase the Muslim agenda as a side show. Instead they kept the issues of vulnerable societies (Women, labours, farmers, Dalits, Adivasi) at the forefront. 

This provided them with the cover of a charitable organisation working for the welfare of minorities and the weaker sections of the society. This was meant to fool the government.

Security agencies alleged that the SIMI ideology influenced its leaders. The PFI’s ultimate goal was to replace the democratic system of India with an Islamic State styled government. The PFI, which calls India its enemy and asks for ‘total Muslim empowerment’, was under scanner in Kerala for its alleged anti-India ideology.

The PFI ran projects like ‘School Chalo’ to encourage education for all up to the secondary level, as well as the ‘Sarva Siksha Gram’ and ‘Adopt a students’ campaigns. These campaigns and projects not only provided them legitimacy to function openly but also provided them cover over their actual missionary work. The PFI’s members believed that India was a democratic country. The doctrine was that slowly they (government of India) were reaching for their necks because of (political and social reasons). PFI members believed that if their rights were breached, then they would be left with no choice but to react – and their holy text provided for a jihad, which they would not be reluctant to utilise and justify their acts. 

PFI maintained the image of a charitable organisation and worked for the ultimate goal establishing an Islamic state by converting and spreading fear through terror acts.

The organisation very ingeniously used one of the features of its preamble on the Dalit and Tribal upliftment and protection of their political rights. This helped the PFI to gain the support of the Bhim Army led by Chandrashekhar Azad, which worked for Dalit Welfare and who also joined the anti-CAA and NRC protests.

The PFI pursued a strategy aimed at communalising Indian polity (Jain, 2017), enforcing Islam, heightening existing social divisions and maintaining a trained bank of volunteers for carrying out actions in the field.

The “PFI had consistently been indulging in actions detrimental to overall national security,” the NIA declared while blaming the outfit for seeking to impose religious orthodoxy on Muslims and using sister outfits like the Sathya Sarani based in Malappuram so as to carry out “forceful conversions” (Jain, 2017).

The outfit seeks the opportunity to enforce religious obscurantism on Muslims and uses its sister organisation Sathya Sarani to perform “forceful conversions” (Gupta, 2020). The PFI has been linked with alleged cases of love jihad in Kerala. In 2017, the NIA, which was then investigating 94 ‘love jihad’ cases registered by the Kerala Police, held four PFI-linked men for forced conversion of Akhila Ashokan in the Hadiya case (Swamy, 2019).

Even though the PFI does not have faith in the constitution of India or its judicial system, its members did not hesitate to use some constitutional powers for their benefit. The PFI believed that the constitution gave them the right to protest. And if the government of India seized such rights, they would be left with no choice but to turn to jihad. In truth, the organisation neither has a true understanding of Islam nor respects the Indian democratic system.

The group also sponsors pronouncedly anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine protests in various parts of country. In July 2014, they started a campaign with nationwide solidarity in favour of Palestinians. The campaign was called “I am Gaza” and was inspired by a series of rallies that took place in several parts of the world (YouTube, 2014).

Cadres of the banned outfit SIMI fast regrouped under the banner of the PFI. This outfit has expanded its tentacles to the north after carrying out the initial recruitment in South India. The spreading tentacles of the PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the PFI, came to light only when its members became influenced by the taqreer (speeches) of Zakir Naik.

Previously, the members of Kerala-based PFI were arrested on charges of instigating violence in UP, Assam. It was also accused of fanning flames in Karnataka (Swamy, 2019) against North-Eastern peoples, resulting in a mass exodus.

The Popular Front of India protested across the country against the CAA, NRC, and NPR. Its epicentre is located in Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi. It successfully exploited the sense of insecurity created within the Muslim community through various policies and misled the people massively through distorted narratives.

Soon after a few members of the PFI were arrested in connection to the Jafarabad riots, it was found by the Enforcement Directorate that the PFI was receiving funding from various sources.

In 2012 PFI members organised a march to parliament, demanding 10 per cent reserved seats for Muslims (Staff Reporter, 2012). The reasons given in favour of the reservation were as follows:

1) the Constitutional Right of the individual to seek equal opportunity for self-growth and

2) the fight against the backwardness of the Muslim community (confirmed through a quoted minute of a high-level government committee meeting).

In 2012, the PFI launched a promotional campaign ‘why the Popular Front of India?’ where it reiterated upon its mission to restore the rights of the depressed and marginalised sections of the Indian society (Staff Reporter, 2012).

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has found that some radical organisations, including the Kerala-based PFI, made efforts to send messages to countries in West Asia about the ongoing updating of the NRC (Ranjan, 2017).

Linkages with Terror Outfits and Transnational Activities

Since its inception, PFI’s linkages were found in numerous cases under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Arms Act and the Explosives Act. While it had a strong foothold in Kerala, the PFI has expanded across the country and included similar-minded groups into their fold such as the Tamil Nadu-based Manitha Neethu Pasarai and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, among others.

In India, the PFI has been suspected of being involved in several political killings and religious conversions.

The investigation agency also claimed that the PFI and its members had been involved in sending the youth of Kerala to Afghanistan, Syria, and Turkey so as to join Daesh and ISIS. 

On March 25, 2020, in Gurudwara Har Rai Sahib in Kabul, Afghanistan, an attack took place, killing 25 people and injuring approximately 80 more. One of the suicide bombers in the Gurudwara attack was a 29-year-old man called Muhammad Mushin – alias ‘Abu Khalid Al- Hindi’. He was from Kerala, and an active member of the PFI. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) took the responsibility and shared the image of the Kerala boy in their magazine Al Naba – whose caption stated that ‘he avenged the atrocities on the Muslims in India’.

The PFI’s role has been established in the Easter bombing case. PFI’s actions were also found in the Pune German Bakery case – support was provided to the Indian unit of the LeT.

The NIA busted an Islamic State (IS) module in Kerala and Tamil Nadu which was allegedly planning to carry out major strikes in several parts of south India; the probe revealed that one of the module’s senior members — Mujeeb alias Omar Al Hindi– was associated with the PFI and inclined towards the ideology of the so-called ‘caliphate’ led by Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. 

Financing of the PFI

The financing of the PFI was mostly achieved through its membership schemes and also through a donation from individuals in the name of Zakat, which is one of the five main pillars of Islam.

PFI members travelled to the Gulf and Saudi Arabia for fundraising. Also, people living in the Southern part of India and enjoying Gulf connections due to their family working in that region also came back for festivals and made large donations. Several people in Iran and the Middle East also sent donations.

These donations mostly came in the name of social welfare – sometimes for girl child education, mosque construction or madrasa (religious school) establishments. However, they were used for unethical activities. Several such organisations and societies had their licence cancelled under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) after being found to be involved in certain illegal activities.

The Muslim Relief Network (MRN), an NGO started by the PFI, was another entity through which it organised funds – particularly from West Asia – in return for raising voices for the Palestine cause and pressure Indian government.

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In his report released, on 3 February, on ‘The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security’, the secretary general said the “best way” to promote stability and future international support was for the Taliban to avoid the isolation that characterised its previous experience in power.

“The Taliban are showing efforts to present itself as a caretaker government. The movement, however, has yet to form governing structures that reflect the country’s ethnic, political and geographic diversity and include women. Efforts are constrained by the lack of resources and capacity, as well as an ideology that clashes in many ways with international norms of governance,” he said.

The report added that Afghanistan was experiencing a massive economic contraction. “The best way to promote stability and future international support is for the Taliban to avoid the isolation that characterised its previous experience in power,” Guterres said.

Al Qaeda Still Present

In another report “The 29th edition of the UNSC’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team” the United Nations Security Council said that terror group al-Qaeda’s Indian subcontinent affiliate has retained a presence in at least six provinces of Afghanistan and has approximately 200-400 fighters, including Indian nationals.

The report, which was released, on 7 February, was prepared by a UNSC group that monitors counter-terrorism sanctions targeting al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

“[Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent] retains a presence in Afghanistan, in the provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimruz, Paktika and Zabul, where the group fought alongside the Taliban against the ousted government. AQIS is estimated to have between 200 and 400 fighters, mainly from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan,” it said.

The 22-page report, signed by UNSC Committee Chair and Norwegian national Trine Heimerback, also stated that contrary to media reports, Aslam Farooqi, former leader of the Islamic State faction Islamic State — Khorasan Province (ISKP), and alleged mastermind of the March 2020 terror attack on a gurdwara in Kabul, had “escaped” from an Afghanistan prison and “subsequently rejoined the group in a senior capacity”.

Terror Groups Have More Freedom Now

“There are no recent signs that the Taliban has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country. On the contrary, terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history. However, Member States have not reported significant new movements of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan,” the report said. “Primary kinetic threat” in the eyes of the Taliban, contextualising some of the conflicting reporting on ISKP attacks in Afghanistan and the alleged killing of Farooqi. The Uyghur extremist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) has also backed the Taliban government, the report added.

Islamic State Gaining Ground in West Africa

The report also broadened its focus beyond Afghanistan to track terrorist activity and developments on a global scale, with West Africa representing a particular region of concern where the Islamic State is gaining ground, and Southeast Asia a “bright spot” with ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates suffering defeats. In conflict zones like Iraq, ISIS “has evolved into a primarily rural insurgency” while al-Qaeda allies and affiliates continue to control northwestern Syria.

“Both Indonesia and the Philippines reported significant gains in countering threats from ISIL and Al-Qaida affiliates in the South-East Asia region, leading to an overall decline in terrorist activity and some optimism that the operational capability of the groups may be significantly degraded,” the report revealed, adding that lone-wolf attacks are still an ongoing risk.

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Lakhvi, who was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case, was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab province.

However, the CTD did not reveal the place of his arrest.

“Following an intelligence-based operation conducted by the CTD Punjab, proscribed organisation LeT leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested on charges of terrorism financing,” it said.

It further said that Lakhvi, 61, was arrested in a case of terrorism financing registered in a police station of CTD Lahore.

“Lakhvi is accused of running a dispensary, using funds collected for terrorism financing. He and others also collected funds from this dispensary and used these funds for further terrorism financing. He also used these funds for personal expenses,” the CTD said.

The CTD said that in addition to belonging to proscribed organisation LeT, Lakhvi is also a UN designated individual.

“His trial will be held before the Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore,” it added.

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Handwara Operation

In the Army’s best traditions, Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, a decorated commanding officer of a Rashtriya Rifles battalion, along with company commander Maj Anuj Sood, two other soldiers and a policeman laid down their lives in a fierce encounter with terrorists at Chanjimulla area of Handwara in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on 2 May.

Two terrorists were killed in the encounter, one of whom was identified as top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Haidar alias Iqbal, a resident of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. They were part of a large group of Pakistani infiltrators who had sneaked into Kashmir through the Wadarbala-Rajwara forests in Kupwara in April. Col Sharma and his team reached the site after receiving reports that civilians were being held hostage in a house by terrorists. The Army officers were leading a team to rescue civilians who had been taken hostage by the terrorists.

Kishtwar Encounter

In a gunfight in Kishtwar district, on 17 April, two militants were slain. They had killed a Special Police Officer and injured another near Dacchan a week earlier, before decamping with their weapons. The weapons were recovered after the encounter near Sounder village.

In another encounter at Dairoo village in South Kashmir’s Shopian the same day two militans killed. 

Keran Gunfight

The Army suffered its biggest casualties in a day since the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammau & Kashmir (J&K), on 5 April. It was foiling an infiltration bid at a high-altitude pass on the Line of Control (LoC) at Shalbatoo, in the Jumgund area of the Keran sector in Kupwara in north Kashmir, in tough terrain and bad weather.

Five members of the elite para unit – 4 Para – and five militants were killed in the fierce hand-to-hand combat and gunfight in the snowbound Ringdori forest area of Keran, 120 km from Srinagar. The unit took part in the 2016 cross-LoC surgical strikes in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The special forces troopers, who had been air dropped near the LoC after information on the infiltrators was received, were found just six feet away from the terrorists, who they eliminated in an intense battle when the search party found them . They had infiltrated across the LoC from Qasim-II post in PoK and were headed to the Gulab Post on the Indian side.

At least three of the five terrorists gunned down on April 5 in the Keran sector belonged to Jammu & Kashmir and had gone across the border to Pakistan for training in 2018. Five AK-47 rifles, grenades, and GPS and wireless sets were recovered from the encounter site.

Kulgam Gunfight

A day earlier, on 4 April, four terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen (HuM) responsible for killing several civilians were shot dead by security forces in a shootout in Kulgam district of Jammu & Kashmir. Two soldiers of the Indian Army were also injured in the encounter, which took place in Hardmand Guri village of Kulgam. The house in which the terrorists were held up was demolished.

Army’s Response

The army responded to the unprovoked ceasefire violation and the killing of Special Forces commandos, on 10 April, by targeting Pakistani positions across the LoC in the Keran sector with artillery guns and caused severe damage to posts, terror launch pads and an ammunition dump in PoK.

A 48-second video clip released showed heavy and precision artillery blasting some positions, including an ammunition dump that was seen exploding in a huge ball of fire. It was a message to Pakistan that nothing goes unpunished.

The assault on terror launch pads at Dudhnial facing the Keran sector killed eight terrorists and 15 Pakistan Army soldiers. There was an effort to camouflage the extent of the casualties on the Pakistani side.

It was from Dudhnial that the five terrorists neutralised by the Indian Army special forces in the Keran sector on April 5 had been launched.

The Indian Army had no option since credible information suggested that nearly 160 terrorists of mixed tanzeems – LeT, Jaish e Mohammed and HuM – were waiting in the area to infiltrate into Kashmir.

At least one terror launch pad, among other targets, was apparently “completely destroyed” in the firing by the Indian Army, which used 105mm field guns as well as 155mm Bofors howitzers.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh, on 19 April, said the Indian Army was carrying out “targeted strikes” on terror launch pads along the LoC in Jammu & Kashmir and eliminating the Pakistani infiltrators before they crossed over to the Indian side.

“As you would have gathered from the operations along the LoC in the last two weeks, we are dominating the enemy through targeted intelligence based strikes on their launch pads and eliminating them before they set foot on Indian soil,” Singh said.

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Dispite the coronavirus (Covid-19) panedemic spreading in Pakistan, there has been a spike in incidents across the LoC suggested that the operations to foment trouble in Kashmir – by first radicalising locals in Valley; then getting them to cross over for weapons training with terror groups such as the LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed and HM; and then sending them back to wage war in India. There were attempts to smuggle assault rifles across LoC to supply to foreign and local terrorists in the Valley. Other moves which include propping up smaller indigenous armed groups, were linked with retaliation against India for the August 2019 nullification of Article 370.

Pakistan often resorts to ceasefire violations to push militants into the Indian side. Indian troops have also been retaliating to Pakistani actions under its policy of hot pursuit.

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Seventeen security forces personnel lost their lives while fighting the terrorists in the union territory, they said.

The militants also killed nine civilians in the last four months, the officials said.

Giving details, a senior official told PTI that the slain terrorists included top commanders of JeM, LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen.

He said of the 50 terrorists killed so far this year, 18 were eliminated during the ongoing lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Four terrorists, including district commander of LeT Muzaffar Ahmed Bhat, were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Dialgam area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir on March 15, the official said, adding they belonged to LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits On January 25, three terrorists, including JeM self-styled Kashmir chief Qari Yasir, were killed while three soldiers were injured in an encounter between security forces and ultras in the Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, he said.

On January 23, another top militant commander Abu Saifullah alias Abu Qasim, an associate of Yasir, was killed in the Khrew area of Pulwama district, the official said.

On April 9, top Jaish-e-Mohammed commander Sajad Nawab Dar was killed by security forces in Sopore in Baramulla district in north Kashmir, he said.

A top Hizbul Mujahideen ‘commander’ Haroon Wani was killed in a fierce encounter with the security forces in the Gundana area of Doda in Jammu and Kashmir on January 15, he said.

Giving further details, the officer said 18 terrorists were killed during the lockdown in the union territory since March 14.

As many as nine civilians were killed by the terrorists during this year, he said.

Besides, seventeen security force personnel were killed during the same period, which includes 13 security personnel, three Special Police officers (SPOs) and one policeman, he added.

As many as 160 terrorists were killed and 102 arrested in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh had said earlier.

By Anil Bhatt
Source: Yahoo News

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