Around 100-120 men, including 31 militants, have crossed into J&K the Army on Saturday said.
Sayeed Moinullah Shah's blue eyes looked vivacious, bereft of any fear when he entered the Army's 15 corps headquarters. But behind his killer looks lie a highly-motivated Pashtun jihadi.
In his early 20s, Shah, a Pashtun from Dhir district in Pak’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), was arrested by the army after he along with 119 others crossed into Kashmir. Shah said the group included 31 militants from Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Pir Panchal Regiment of the HM.
"After listening to a speech of a Hizbul commander laced with the details about Army's excesses in Kashmir, I decided to join Jihad. Kashmiri militants told us there is no relgious freedom in the Valley. Women are raped and the law of the jungle prevails. But now I want to go back because everything is fine in Kashmir", he said.
Militants started infiltration early when the passes were still closed and the fence on LoC was still buried under snow.. The militants also took up the treacherous Gurez route to reach the Valley. In addition, there is only brigade manning the 70-km LoC which militants use to cross over. The manner in which a 120-member infiltrators group crossed over has also led army to rethink their conventional strategy.
"Around 31 were militants, 45 were porters and the rest were guides or labourers for snow beating and cutting", said an officer. The renewed push by militants has led to the speculation of a Taliban inflow or a Kargil-like situation on the LoC.
"We have no link with the Taliban and they are not coming to Kashmir. We have commanders who have worked in Kashmir for some years and take orders from the local commanders," said Shah.
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