The Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed to have come across the first al-Qaeda link in the Kashmir Valley with the arrest of a terrorist in Srinagar. Ghulam Qadir Najjar was closely associated with the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and al-Qaeda terror outfits. An al-Qaeda operative, Qamar Ayub, who was arrested in Jammu last week, had stayed at Najjar's safe house for over a month. Terrorists of the Harkat had also been using Najjar's house as a hideout. 20-25 Al-Qaida members were reported to have sneaked into the Kashmir Valley and a close associate of Osama bin Laden, Molvi Abrar, is said to be their chief. A massive campaign has been launched to bust the network.
This is not a good time to be an al-Qaeda anywhere, but Kashmir's a worse bet than most. |