Following a marked decline in terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) held a meeting earlier this month with the commanders of terror groups like Lashkar-e-Tayabba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al Badr and Hizbul Mujahideen in PoK and decided to step up attacks on security forces and political workers in the Valley, according to intelligence inputs.
The meeting was held at Malakpaiyan, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir earlier this month by one Major Yaqoob of ISI with the terror commanders and expressed his dissatisfaction with the tanzeem commanders over the decline in terrorist activities in the Kashmir Valley.Major Yakoob directed the commanders to make arrangements for suitable terrorist attacks in the Valley, according to an Intelligence report generated from Srinagar.
Movement of local Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Rayees Ahmad of Joibal Veer in Anantnag and two unidentified terrorists have been observed in village Nubuk Nanil under Mattan police station in Anantnag has been reported by the agencies. Ahmad along with other two terrorists frequently visit Nubuk Nanil and are apparently planning to shift their location to an apple orchard in nearby villages. They are also in the process of recruitment of local youth from the district, officials said, quoting from the chatter picked up by the agencies.
This group, they said, is planning to attack security forces and political workers in between Bijbehera and Anantnag.
During the last two-three years, the security forces have neutralized a number of terrorist commanders during operations and the Pakistan-backed groups are finding it difficult to find suitable replacements.
Additionally, the recruitment of cadres has also taken a beating owing to a variety of factors including a crackdown on funding channels like NGOs and trade-based financing of terrorism in the Valley. The National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate have undertaken a number of probes to choke terrorist financing and money laundering respectively, leading to constricted funds flow to the terror outfits, officials added.