UK media warns of mercenary siege in Kashmir - The Times of India

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Foreign mercenaries trained, armed and financed by the Pakistani
army have virtually hijacked the secessionist movement in Jammu
and Kashmir and signs of the rising tide of fundamentalism are
starting to be felt across the region, British media reports have
warned.

"There are no longer effective Kashmiri militant groups left in
the valley and foreign mercenaries are firmly in control," The
Times said, warning that the near conquest of Afghanistan by the
Taliban was adding to the zealotry of Islamic militants in
Kashmir.

It said India, with a well-equipped army presence in the state,
was capable of repelling any direct assault by the Taliban or any
mercenary force, but added that access given to these elements in
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) by the Pakistani army could fuel
tension among the local population.

The infusion of these battle-hardened mercenaries by Pakistan
signals that the country's army and intelligence network is
raising the stakes in Kashmir and that there could be bigger
flare-ups in the region, other media reports said.

"Pakistan's influence in spreading Islamic extremism in Kashmir
is pivotal. Jamaat-i-Islami, the biggest fundamentalist group in
Pakistan, admits to training Kashmiris, Pakistanis and Afghans
for guerrilla warfare in the region," The Times said. The Times
said Harkat-ul-Ansar, now renamed Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin after the
U.S. state department labelled it a terrorist organisation, was
openly operating in Pakistan. It said this organisation, active
in Kashmir, had its terrorist training camps bombed by U.S.
Cruise missiles last month.

The paper said foreign Islamic mercenaries were well-equipped,
received "substantial pay" and were on a "two-year contract" to
carry on the terror campaign in Kashmir. Jane k Defence Weekly,
in its latest issue, said the Pakistani army, besides helping
Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin and Lashkar-i-Toiba, had raised a new
mercenary formation called Harkat-ul-Jehad Islamee Tanzeem and
that all these mercenaries had "disarmed local Kashmiri
insurgents".

The weekly said that after divesting local Kashmiri youths of
arms, they had been confined "to menial non-combative tasks". In
a special report on Kashmir, the weekly said Harkat-ul-Jehad
terrorists had been earmarked for the Poonch and Rajouri regions
where they were now permanently perched on the Indian side of the
Line of Control (LoC) directing Pakistani artillery fire.

Jane's said Pakistanis Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was also
paying a huge compensation to the next of kin of the mercenaries
killed in Kashmir and had so far spent between 14 to 19 million
dollars for this alone.

Quoting Western experts, it said most of this money was being
funelled through Saudi Arabia. Media reports said Pakistan
planned a quick sweep of the Taliban-led offensive in Afghanistan
followed by withdrawal of 30,000 to 40,000 of these mercenaries
for infiltration into Kashmir for what was being calculated by a
Pakistani general as a "decisive phase in Kashmir".

However, the mass genocide of Shias by Taliban forces in Mazar-i-
Sharif and its repercussions in Iran had upset the Pakistani
plan, the reports said.

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