The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is going to strengthen Kashmir-based terror groups, particularly the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Intel reports have also suggested and alerted the troops about a possible spike in attacks on security forces by the two organisations. The agencies are more specific about the intentions of Jaish as latest activities of the group have pointed in that direction.
Media reports corroborated by the intelligence agencies indicate that more than 100 operatives of JeM were released from Afghanistan jails by Taliban after it took over the reins of power in that country. These Jaish operatives were arrested by the Afghan forces over a period of many years for their terror activities in Afghanistan. Sources suggest that these operatives have started returning to Pakistan as they have no role to play in Afghanistan. “What will Pakistan do with them? Definitely push them into Kashmir,” suggested a security expert keeping a close watch on Afghanistan developments.
Jaish has been operating in Kashmir for more than two decades. In fact, it’s chief commander Masood Azhar himself led the operations in Kashmir in the early 1990s before he was arrested by the security forces in 1994. Azhar travelled to Srinagar under a fake identity and security forces arrested him in February from Khanabal near Anantnag. In July, 1995 six foreign tourists were kidnapped by Al-Faran demanding release of Masood Azhar, among other demands. While one of the hostages managed to escape, another was beheaded by the group. The fate of the remaining four continues to be a mystery till date. In fact, the FBI interrogated Azhar many times to extract a clue from him about the kidnapped tourists.
Azhar’s relations with Taliban go back to 1999 when five years after his arrest, in December that year, Azhar was released in exchange of a hijacked Indian Airlines flight 814. The plane was taken by the hijackers from Kathmandu to Kandahar. Taliban was at that time controlling the province. The hijackers were led by Masood Azhar’s brother Ibrahim Athar. Azhar was hosted by Taliban and managed his safe travel to Pakistan.
Shortly after his release, Azhar made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi. In 1999, after Masood’s release, the Harkat-ul-Ansar was proscribed by the US. Azhar floated the Jaish. Media reports suggest that Azhar recently had a meeting with the Taliban leadership and sought their help on Kashmir. While Taliban is tight-lipped about Kashmir, their undercover support to JeM cannot be ruled out. Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have started strengthening their guard following the intel inputs about Jaish, because the group has the potential of carrying out big attacks. Jaish, according to security agencies, was behind the Parliament attack, Mumbai attack, Pathankot attack and Pulwama attack. Despite its top leadership being wiped out by the security forces, the group is trying to pump in fresh flood into Kashmir insurgency.
In the biggest strike of this year on July 31, the security forces eliminated the top brass of the Jaish-e-Mohammad by killing Adnan alias Saifullah alias Lamboo, who headed JeM in Kashmir and was the main conspirator in the Lethpora terror attack of February 2019. He was killed along with his close lieutenant Sameer Dar, in a joint operation of the security forces. Azhar has lost some of his close relatives in Kashmir. Two of his nephews were killed in different operations in the Valley. Meanwhile a couple of security review meetings have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir during the last few days where the challenges posed by the Afghan situation were discussed.