Author: Rezaul H Laskar
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: September 4, 2002
A few dozen al-Qaeda and Taliban
fighters were among the 400-odd guerrillas that are believed to have sneaked
into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan since May, senior Indian military
officials have said.
Though security forces in Kashmir
have not had any physical contacts' with al-Qaeda and Taliban cadres so
far, military officials believe they arc, lying low and could carry out
attacks on high profile targets immediately before elections to the state
assembly begin on September 16.
The officials admitted intelligence
regarding the actual number of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters present in
Kashmir as well as the areas in which they are operating is 'vague'.
"There have been no physical contacts
with these guerrillas but we have definite information that they have entered
Jammu and Kashmir," a senior military intelligence official who did not
want to be named said.
Based on intercepts of radio communications
between Pakistan-backed guerrilla groups and other intelligence, military
officials estimate there could be up to 40 al-Qaeda and Taliban cadres
in Kashmir.
It is believed the cadres were from
a large group of guerrillas that has gathered in the Gultari region in
Pakistan-administered Kashmir located along the Line of Control (LoC) after
escaping from Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban regime late
last year.
Pakistan had last month accused
Indian ground forces of launching an attack backed by air power in the
Gultari area.
New Delhi dismissed this claim,
but Indian Army officials said the Pakistani move might have been a ruse
to cover up for heightened guerrilla activity in the area.
If there is a major attack by the
al-Qaeda and Taliban in this region, Pakistan has prepared the ground to
say that it was India which has been on the offensive in Gultari," said
the military intelligence official.
Dismissing claims by Pakistan President
Pervez Musharraf that nothing was happening along the LoC, the military
officials said terrorist training camps along the ceasefire line had been
reactivated and there had been a gradual increase in large groups of terrorists
trying to sneak into Kashmir.
"One intercept made last week even
indicated there was some sort of accident at one of these camps while a
group of guerrillas was being trained in using explosives," said an Indian
Army officer.
The Indian Army estimates some 730
guerrillas have infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir since January. The incursions
registered a high in May, when some 170 guerrillas are believed to have
entered Kashmir.
The bulk of the incursions are currently
being made north of the Pir Panjal range that separates the southern Jammu
region from the Kashmir Valley. The guerrillas earlier favoured routes
south of the mountain range but had abandoned these after heightened vigil
by Indian security forces in the area. "The terrorists are using routes
along the river Kishanganga," said an Indian Army officer. "This river
is very fast-flowing and no infiltration attempt can occur unless it has
the support of Pakistan forces". (IANS)
