Archives for February 2019

Formed in 2000, Jaish-e-Muhammad (Army of Muhammad) is a Pakistan-based armed group that aims to undermine and overthrow Indian control over Indian-administered Kashmir through attacks on security and government targets.

The group was founded by Masood Azhar, who previously fought under the banner of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and has been linked to al-Qaeda.

Azhar founded JeM after he was released from Indian custody in 1999, in exchange for more than 150 hostages held on an Indian Airlines flight that had been hijacked and diverted to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

Azhar is said to have formed JeM with the support of then al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and the Afghan Taliban, according to the United Nations.

The group is said to have actively supported the Afghan Taliban’s fight against US-led NATO forces since 2001.

JeM has carried out several high-profile suicide and other attacks against Indian targets since its formation.

Notably, in 2001 it was implicated in attacks on the legislative assembly building in Indian-administered Kashmir and on the Indian parliament in New Delhi, killing at least 39 people.

Azhar was arrested by Pakistani authorities for his alleged involvement in the parliament attack, but was released a year later after a court ruled authorities had presented inadequate evidence against him.

Pakistan outlawed the JeM as a “terrorist organisation” in 2002, prompting the group to target Pakistan, twice unsuccessfully attempting to assassinate then Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2003.

In 2016, Pakistan once again detained Azhar, after India alleged JeM was responsible for an attack on an Indian airbase in the town of Pathankot, killing at least six people.

Later that year, JeM was linked to an attack on an Indian security forces base at Uri, killing 19 people.

On Thursday, JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed at least 42 Indian soldiers in the Indian-administered Kashmir town of Pulwama, the worst such attack on Kashmiri soil.

Azhar’s current whereabouts remain unknown, having not been formally charged by Pakistan with a crime nor making public appearances since his detention.

China, a key Pakistani ally, continues to block his listing on a United Nations sanctions list, a long-standing Indian request.

Agencies

Nasheman News :Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday strongly condemned Thursday’s terror attack by the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of at least 45 CRPF personnel and said that the perpetrators behind the act should be “duly punished”.

In a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said: “Please accept the most sincere condolences in connection with the loss of Indian law enforcement officers in the terrorist act in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

“We strongly condemn this brutal crime. The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack, undoubtedly, should be duly punished.”

Putin reiterated Russia’s “readiness for further strengthening counter-terrorist cooperation with Indian partners”.

“In Russia, we share the grief of friendly people of India and hope for speedy recovery of the injured,” he said.

In the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers and leaving the security establishment stunned.

JeM claimed responsibility for the horror and released a video clip of the suicide bomber, a ‘commander’ identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the strike in Lethpora.

Putin’s message on Friday came separately after the Russian Embassy here issued a statement on Thursday saying it “condemns in the strongest terms the horrific terrorist attack”.

“We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards,” the Embassy statement said.

Nasheman News : Former army chief, Gen. Shankar Roychowdhury (retd) on Thursday blamed intelligence failure for the Pulwama terror attack and suggested some non-governmental Indian agency raise a “fidayeen” (suicide squad) against Pakistan to avenge such incidents.

“Obviously, there was an intelligence failure. They (the Indian military authorities) should not have sent such a big convoy of 70 trucks. They should not have done so many things.

“But now, they have to get this gang, or group, find out those who have perpetrated it, and eliminate them. That is what is to be done,” Roychowdhury, who headed the Indian Army 1994-97, said.

He said like terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad is also an old outfit, and intelligence agencies have lot of information about them.

“The terrorists have to be tracked down, for which the intelligence agencies have to start working. It may be difficult to eliminate them at one go. They have to be hunted down one by one and killed,” he said.

However, he said there might be complications if the terrorists have infiltrated from Pakistan.

“But I think, the perpetrators must have gone to some local hideouts,” he said.

Asked whether he saw a Pakistan hand in the militant strike, he said: “I have always maintained that Pakistan has a role (in such incidents).. They have to be punished.”

Roychowdhury said he has for long been advocating that India must raise a fidayeen squad.

“I have been saying we must also have our own fidayeen. But the government or the army can’t do it. That’s not their job. We have to devise some other way…

“We need a third party… a third group… some non-governmental agency which can take up the job. Unless we retaliate, respond in kind for every person we lose, these things will go on and on.

He said there were problems both in Kashmir and across the border. “So many groups can’t come from across the border. Where did they make the weapons and bombs and transported them to the spot?”

But he discounted the theory that terrorism and talks cannot go together. “That is wrong. Terrorism and talks can go together. But for that, first we need to respond in kind, and then carry on the talks.”

In the worst ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 43 troopers and leaving the security established stunned.