Security stepped up; agencies say terrorists in Valley could attack yatra beginning July 1
With the commencement of the Amarnath Yatra being just a week away, the security agencies have heightened vigil as intelligence inputs have suggested presence of 290 terrorists, including 34 Pakistani nationals exclusively trained by Pakistan Army for targeting security forces, in the Kashmir Valley. These terrorists could carry out attacks during the Amarnath Yatra, starting from July 1, the agencies have warned.
As many as 130 terrorists are of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), 103 of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and 34 of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) besides two of Islamic State Jammu & Kashmir and five of Al Badr.
In addition, three terrorists owing allegiance to al-Qaeda Kashmir also known as Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, whose chief Zakir Musa was recently killed by the security forces in an encounter, are also said to be active in the region.
Out of the 130 LeT terrorists, 79 are Pakistani nationals and of the 103 Hizbul terrorists in the Valley seven are Pakistanis and remaining are locals. Out of the 34 JeM terrorists, 21 are Pak nationals and remaining 13 locals.
Following the inputs, the security grid in the Valley is being strengthened after continuous review and monitoring of the situation in Jammu & Kashmir in order to avoid any untoward incident during the pilgrimage to the cave shrine.
Nearly 115 terrorists have been killed by the security forces in Jammu & Kashmir as against a total of 254 last year. Over 70 security forces personnel have been killed so far this year including 45 casualties in the Pulwama attack in February in which the CRPF convoy was targeted besides 19 of the Army. Last year, the Army alone suffered casualties of 61 personnel.
According to the inputs, most number of terrorists liquidated in encounters belong to the JeM whose chief Masood Azhar was designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations earlier this year under the al Qaeda Sanctions List.
The JeM has suffered casualties to the tune of 36 so far this year.
The Pulwama attack had triggered the aerial strikes on the terror training facility of the JeM at Balakot in Pakistan. The Jaish had claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack at the CRPF convoy.
In the wake of the continuing action against the ultras by the security forces, the JeM is particularly facing shortage of cadres and the latest ISI-Pak army gameplan is to trigger a major unrest by carrying out a major attack in the Valley. As a tactical ploy, the JeM has also sought to shift its base to Jammu to evade action from the security forces. In Jammu region, the outfit is seeking to create a communal situation by targeting the BJP/RSS leaders and influential personalities from the Hindu/Sikh communities, according to Intelligence assessments.