Preliminary probe into the Pulwama has revealed that YSMS, a mobile application, was hosted on the ‘dark web’ and regulation of such communication apps on the internet by the US could have helped in containing the Pakistani terror groups’ nefarious agenda in the region, officials connected to the suicide bombing probe said.
Interestingly, the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) module that carried out the deadliest attack in the three decades of militancy in Jammu & Kashmir had used the YSMS app for communication among one another before executing the suicide bombing on a CRPF convoy leading to the death of 44 CRPF personnel. The app does not leave any signature on the Internet and can be traced only if the hardwares are intercepted.
The websites of Pakistan army/Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) and its terror proxies Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and JeM also hosted on a common server by American firm Cloudflare Inc which is a contradiction of the sanctions and bounties put on the heads of the terror masterminds of these two groups by the US under its terror listing regime. The server of the Pak-backed Referendum 2020 campaign targeting Khalistani movement is also located in the US and hosted by the Cloudflare Inc.
In addition, American video sharing platform YouTube has uploaded millions of videos of the LeT and JeM terror preachers, including Hafiz Sayeed, Abdul Rahman Makki and MasooD Azhar, leading to continuous radicalisation of the youth in India and the region.
Yet another American firm Twitter is also being used by the Pakistan-based terror groups for furthering the jehadi agenda without putting any effective filters. Search engine Google’s features are also being exploited by the terror groups for accessing information under the Do It Yourself (DIY) programmes for knowhow on sensitive issues like assemblage of IED and remotely-operated vehicle. IEDs have been used by the terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir. The inimical forces, including Zakir Musa, a former Jaish commander who has since floated Ansar Ghatwatul Hind, subsequently rechristened as al-Qaeda Kashmir is seeking to develop remotely-operated vehicles for execution of bomb blasts in the Kashmir Valley.
Counter-terrorism expert Dr Rituraj Mate said, “The JeM and LeT might have outsmarted the US administration by getting their websites hosted in America but the USA had invented the Internet technology and will be bound to take action against such misuse one day or the other if it is serious in containing terrorism globally, including those exported by Pakistan.” Continuous backing and funding to Pakistan by
the US is bound to infuse an anti-American sentiment towards their products as is the case with China when boycott calls are often given against Chinese goods.