Inter Gang Warfare Being Enacted In The Kashmir Valley Among Terrorist Groups
After the Balakote strike on Jaish-e-Mohammad camp , a suicide attack was attempted on a CRPF convoy. However the Jaish is facing a big shortage of recruits in the Valley and Hizbul is now seeking to fill that space to become more important in the eyes of the Pakistani masters. Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin who belongs to Kashmir Valley is presently based in Pakistan op is desperately trying to gain the patronage of the Pak army-ISI combine.
The Hizbul is considered a local terror group with patronage from Pak army-ISI combine. A part of the ISI strategy is to use HM and then claim deniability after terror attacks in the Valley as also to get local recruits for other jehadi groups like the Lashkar and Jaish.
However the Hizbul is known for its double game in the Valley. At times it has been leaking information to the Army and the security forces in the Valley and is also open to dialogue for the cause of the separatist of Hurriyat variety. It has also close connections with the Pakistani establishment. Thus gang wars between the terrorist groups are likely to increase in the future as an ambitious Hizbul seeks to increase its utility with a view to join the dialogue process at future date in any Indian initiative.
Intelligence chatters have indicated the gang war between Hizbul Mujahideen on the one hand and the Al Qaeda Kashmir and ISJK on the other in Jammu & Kashmir has rattled Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence that suspects the former being a local outfit is leaking information about the other terror groups due to battle of supremacy.
In its bid to deflect attention from its vested agenda in the Valley, the Hizbul Mujahideen in association with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba indulged in a fight with the international terror group Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) Commander in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday to show solidarity with the ISI’s designs in the trouble-torn State.
The clash between ISJK terror commander Adil Das and Hizbul terrorist Arif Hussain Bhat ensued at an apple orchard in Sirhama village in Beijbehara. While Das was killed in the shootout, Bhat was nabbed by the State police.
Last week, the security forces eliminated four terrorists of Al Qaeda Kashmir also known as Ansar Ghazwatul Hind—Rafi Hassan Mir of Kralchak, Shopian, Suhail Ahmad Bhat of Batmuran, Shopian, Showkat Ahmad Mir of Rajpora in Pulwama and Azad Ahmad Khanday of Bamnoo, Pulwama. The Hijbul terrorists in the Valley are suspected to have leaked information leading to the elimination of the four terrorists in a cordon and search operation at the Panzar area of Shopian, sources said.
The ISJK operates in the Valley under the banner of Wilayah Al Hind but has been unable to gain significant traction locally where even the Al Qaeda’s arm has been virtually decimated with the liquidation of its chief Zakir Musa last month.
Sources said the gunfight is an indication of the rift between various terror groups operating in the Valley for gaining supremacy. It is also indicative of the desperation in the terror ranks following continuous operations by the security forces against the ultras. The security forces have killed over 700 terrorists during the last three years including the elimination of Al Qaeda Kashmir chief Zakir Musa and Hizbul commander Burhan Wani among others. Only one key commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen Riyaz Naikoo has evaded the security forces after the Indian Army released a list of 22 most wanted terrorists last year as part of the Operation All Out.
Hizbul had engaged in Ramzan ceasefire during Atal Behari Vajpayee regime at the Centre and the outfit’s chief Syed Salahuddin’s son was given admission in MBBS course in Sri Nagar Medical College who is now based in London. The Indian army had rescued Salahuddin’s son working in Jammu and Kashmir education department who was trapped in terror siege in two separate incidents and two commissioned officers of the army had laid down their lives in saving him.
The international groups like Al Qaeda Kashmir has been seeking to respond to the ISIS attack in Colombo and making their presence registered here through domination on groups like Hizbul. Feeling the heat, Hizbul has started sharing information to the forces at different levels. Both commanders and cadres are believed to be sharing inputs on other groups to the agencies in a discreet manner, sources said.
Agencies in the Valley are getting good information on the movement and hideouts of other terror groups and are expecting the trend to continue in both short and long term, added the sources.
