As part of this tactic, activated even before the Taliban took possession of Afghanistan, ISI has been wearing its “protected” LeT, JeM and Al-Badr terrorist suits in the territory of the last two months. Union.
A source in the Indian central security establishment told TOI that around 200 terrorists are currently active in J&K, with the proportion of foreign terrorists matching that of local ultras. “Eventually, they will indulge in terrorist attacks when and when ISI directs,” the source said.
Determined to neutralize these efforts by the ISI, Indian security forces have further strengthened the border network and increased surveillance and manpower along the border with Pakistan. To ensure that undercover terrorists do not have easy hiding places in the villages of Kashmir, J&K police are aggressively tracking down field workers who are likely to give refuge to foreign terrorists and also facilitate their missions.
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According to sources, about 500 field workers have been arrested since January this year. “We are closely watching other suspects, some of whom are trying to project themselves as ‘nationalists,’ and will be reprimanded in the coming days,” a security official said.
A senior intelligence official told TOI that Indian agencies do not link the reactivation of infiltration and the launching of terror across the border into Pakistan and Kashmir occupied by Pakistan with the events in Afghanistan and they see it more as part of the ISI game plan to be cautious, so far. for fear of being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in the wind and rising at J&K. Still, there are real concerns about some of the weapons and military equipment left by U.S. forces, as well as trained terrorist cadres from Afghanistan, who entered J&K because of the ISI nexus. with the Taliban and groups active on the western border.
J&K police sources said the infiltration has intensified since July along the northern Kashmir border, as well as in the Jammu region. Terrorist gangs and stealth routes are remarkably active in Bandipore, Kupwara and Baramulla, while terrorist activity is mainly concentrated in southern Kashmir.
A source said foreign terrorists and drug traffickers often infiltrate from northern Kashmir and stay in hiding before heading down south. The infiltrators headed south to Kashmir, a terrorist center with Srinagar currently reporting the highest terrorist activity, infiltrating mainly through Jammu and then moving to the valley by road. Foreign terrorists traditionally outnumber local terrorists in northern Kashmir; southern Kashmir has mostly local recruits from districts such as Anantnag, Srinagar and Shopian.
A new concern among J&K’s security establishment is the involvement of local terrorist equipment for small acts such as grenade launching, rather than receiving a longer role in its terrorist activities.
“These places are paid a good amount of money for a single task. Most do limited work and then merge with the civilian population. So it becomes very difficult to keep track of them and get anything concrete. to nail them, ”a police officer said.