In a major tactical shift, Pakistan-based terror group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), which has traditionally confined its terror agenda to the Valley, has directed its cadres to target airbases and security forces beyond Jammu & Kashmir.
Following the directions by HM boss Syed Salahuddin, who is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, an umbrella grouping of jehadi outfits, Intelligence agencies suspect the outfit is most likely to target IAF bases in North India, especially in Uttar Pradesh where there are six major bases at Agra, Bareilly, lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Hindon in Ghaziabad.
Subsequently, all the airbases across the country have been put on high alert and security has further been beefed up. The HM seems to be buoyed over its recent "success" in creating unrest in the Valley following killing of its cadre Burhan Wani on July 8.
The turmoil in J&K has been continuing, resulting in the death of over 80 civilians and injuries to thousands of security forces personnel so far. Hundreds of civilians have also been injured in counter measures taken by the security forces to quell the terror-inspired mobs that systematically indulge in targeting security forces by pelting bricks and stones at them.
While other Pakistan-based terror groups like the lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) have been known to operate both in the Valley and elsewhere in the country, the HM has so far confined its terror agenda in trouble-torn J&K.
“By bringing Salahuddin, a Kashmiri, to the fore, the Pakistani strategy is to make Kashmiris a scapegoat in the terror design to protect the leT chief Hafiz Saeed and JeM boss Maulana Masood Azhar, both of whom are designated terrorists under the United Nations list,” counter-terrorism expert Dr Rituraj Mate told The Pioneer.
Pakistani planners had earlier also executed a similar agenda by sending in foreign mercenaries from Pakistan and Afghanistan. But the Indian Army had adopted a policy of neutralizing only foreign terrorists and arresting the locals after the Charar-e-Sharief mosque was burnt by the terrorists in 1995. Due to this policy, many of the foreign terrorists were liquidated by the security forces while the rest fled the scene, resulting in their presence in the Valley being nullified within just three years, he added.
The plan to target UP is also seemingly a well-calibrated design of Pakistan's State as well as non-State terror planners to derive maximum regional and global attention as India's most populous State is going for polls early next year and is already getting prominent media coverage. By executing terror acts in the State, the outfit will not only get international attention but also be able to garner support for its viewpoint on Kashmir. Also, it is easier to carry out terror acts in UP as it shares an open border with Nepal. Besides, Pakistan will be at liberty to deny its role in future attacks carried out by Salahuddin who is an Indian at odds with the establishment for the Kashmiri cause.
Meanwhile, the Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), controlled by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistani Army is also focusing on UP. The outfit's chief Maulana Asim Umar continues to carry out propaganda of atrocities on the Muslims in the State by exaggerating the sufferings of the community during communal clashes.
Umar, who hails from Sambhal in UP and works under the instructions of ISI, in his latest piece on "The Future of Muslims in India," has over-hyped the plight of Muslims affected in the riots at Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Saharanpur. Intelligence officials said he seems to be expanding his base of sympathizers in the State and widen the recruitment agenda.