Militants not quitting the Valley

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, SEPT. 26. Contrary to reports about their ``return'' to the other side of border, militants in Jammu and Kashmir are allegedly preparing for ``major strikes.''

With not much involvement of the Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida or the Taliban in Kashmir militancy, the reports on the Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammad Omar's call to the militants operating in Kashmir seem to be ``misleading.'' Since security agencies have claimed to have intercepted messages of militants getting a call for fighting jehad (holy war) in Afghanistan, a fresh wave of reports has swept the media in the last few days. However, there is no strong evidence to substantiate these reports of militants returning to their base camp in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. ``On ground there is no such indication'' a top official told The Hindu. The change, if any, is not perceptible.

But the developments in the past two weeks following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. have shaken the militant set-up in the Kashmir valley. The commanders of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Al-Badr have been meeting frequently to discuss the strategy in the event of a U.S. attack on Afghanistan but there is no move to leave the ground, a source said. He also confirmed that a commander of a front- ranking militant outfit had crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) but that was entirely to discuss organisational matters.

A top security official said that a group of militants was seen moving out of a particular place in south Kashmir but that does not mean that the militants are on their way out. In fact, the militants are allegedly planning major strikes to register their presence on the ground.

Looking back at the last 12 years of violence in the State, the involvement of Afghan nationals as such is not to the extent of the direct involvement of the Al-Qaida or the Taliban which operate from Afghanistan. This, despite the fact that the militant outfits operating in Kashmir hold the same ideology as that of Osama or the Taliban. Official records show that out of 1,027 foreign militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir so far, 183 were Afghans and 884 Pakistanis.

However, the dangerous dimensions are also clear as, according to officials, the foreigners killed include seven from Sudan, four from Yemen, two each from Albania and Bahrain and one each from Egypt and Bosnia. Out of the 115 arrested, 14 are Afghans, one each from Lebanon and Tajkistan and 99 from Pakistan. There are instances of militants from Iran and Algeria getting killed in encounters but for want of clear-proof, they are counted among the unidentified.

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