| Submit your comments on this article |
| Lashkar renews cross-border war |
| 2004-02-25 |
| Police interrogation of three terrorists arrested for an abortive attempt to storm the Indira Gandhi International Airport here has thrown up disturbing evidence of a renewed cross-border offensive by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The three Lashkar terrorists, Mohammad Ahsanullah, Mohammad Bashir and Rashid Ahmad, have, according to the Jammu and Kashmir police, said that at least three specially-trained fidayeen (suicide squad) groups had been sent across the Line of Control since December, when India and Pakistan began observing a ceasefire. Members of these groups carried out attacks on a bus stand in Poonch and the Jammu railway station before initiating plans to hit the Indira Gandhi International Airport. One of these fidayeen groups made its way into Jammu and Kashmir through Goi village, facing the Mendhar area of Poonch district, in mid-January. Although the Pakistan Army did not support the infiltration attempt by providing a forward launching base or fire support, local military commanders were made aware the Lashkar squad would be crossing the LoC. The fidayeen group crossed newly-installed border fencing along the LoC by lifting the concertina wire enough to enable men to crawl under it. Doesn’t sound like much of a fence... Lashkar commanders had earlier despatched a second fidayeen squad led by Rashid, also a Karachi resident, in early December. This squad carried out the December 10 attack on the main bus stand in Poonch, killing three persons and injuring 10. One fidayeen was also killed in the course of the attack. Two other Lashkar cadre volunteered for the January 2 assault on the Jammu railway station. Four security force personnel were killed in this attack, in which both fidayeen who carried it out also died. Shortly after the Jammu railway station attack, the remnants of both these fidayeen groups were charged with carrying out an assault on the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Sources said the terrorists had considered a frontal attack on any of the three departure terminals, where passengers are not screened by security staff until after they enter the buildings. A third Lashkar unit separately attempted to execute a bombing in New Delhi, but was interdicted by the Delhi police, who arrested the three terrorists involved just before Republic Day. In an effort to replace these losses, a fourth fidayeen group attempted to cross the LoC two weeks ago at Dehri, in Poonch. Troops of the 25 Punjab Regiment intercepted this unit metres from the LoC, and killed five terrorists in a brief but fierce battle. The firing almost led to a showdown with Pakistani troops, said sources who also claimed that the terrorists bodies lay on their side of the LoC. The welter of recent Lashkar actions gives little support to the Defence Minister, George Fernandes’ recent assertion that terrorist activity in Jammu and Kashmir was now being carried out by elements outside the control of Pakistan’s military establishment. Reports from Pakistan instead indicate the government there has made no effort to crack down on fundraising by the Lashkar, which reached a high during the recent Eid festival, or to stop distribution of its magazines and propaganda material. At a recent rally in Islamabad, the Lashkar’s supreme leader, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, exhorted followers to join the fighting in Jammu and Kashmir, which he described as "the greatest Jihad in the history of Islam." Speaking to The Hindu, a top Army official described recent events as "highly disturbing." "We’ve been lucky none of the major Lashkar-e-Taiba acts so far have actually succeeded," he said, "but sooner or later, it is likely one will. If the peace process is derailed, the root cause will be Pakistan’s unwillingness act on its promises, and actually shut down terrorist organisations." |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |