Hundreds of terrorists from Pakistan join PoK brethren after Salahuddin's call
Though Pakistan's military establishment has not confirmed the movement of jihadis from the tribal belt to PoK, sources said hundreds of terrorists have joined militant groups associated with the UJC.
United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahuddin's call for support from al-Qaeda or Taliban has as much to do with a desire to cash in on the success of jihadists in the new battlefields of Syria and Iraq as efforts to revive the flagging fortunes of the amalgam of terror groups fighting in Kashmir The move seems to have paid off. A militant commander close to Salahuddin claimed terrorists fleeing Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan following a recently launched military offensive had found a new home in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"Hundreds of our brothers have recently joined us to fight Indian security forces in Kashmir. We are prepared to pump fresh blood into Indian Kashmir," said the commander who did not want to be named.
In a bid to quell the activities of the Taliban in its tribal areas, the Pakistan Army launched an operation in North Waziristan on June 15. About 30,000 soldiers are involved in the operation, which has resulted in the killing of almost 450 terrorists and compelled hundreds more to flee the area.
"We would warmly welcome fighters from like-minded groups. The time has come to start a full-scale operation to kick out Indian forces from Jammu and Kashmir," Salahuddin told MAIL TODAY on Tuesday.
Though Pakistan's military establishment has not confirmed the movement of jihadis from the tribal belt to PoK, sources said hundreds of terrorists have joined militant groups associated with the UJC. The 68-year-old Salahuddin, who also heads the Hizb-ul Mujahideen, too did not confirm reports of terrorists joining the UJC but said he had already invited all militants to join the conglomerate to fight in Kashmir.
He said the withdrawal of USled foreign forces from Afghanistan later this year would have an impact on the Kashmir cause. He claimed the Afghan Taliban would join Kashmiri militants in their fight. "The US withdrawal will have a positive impact. It will send an invigorating message to Kashmiri mujahideen - when the US and NATO, using the latest war technology and massive budgets, couldn't win the war against terrorism and are running away, why can't the same happen in Kashmir?" he asked.
A spokesperson for Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations claimed it was not possible for terrorist to flee the tribal areas.
"Security forces have completely cordoned off the area and there is no possibility for militants to flee and get refuge in other parts of the country," the spokesperson said.
Contrary to the statement of the spokesperson, there have been reports that hundreds of Taliban fighters rushed to disguise themselves with new haircuts in the weeks before the army's assault began.
Despite Salahuddin's claims, the fortunes of the UJC have plummeted in recent years. Though the groups aligned to the UJC, including the Hizb, LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed, were allowed to maintain their training camps and bases in different parts of Pakistan, authorities imposed restrictions on their activities after former President Pervez Musharraf pledged he would not allow the country's territory to be used for anti-India activities.
TheISI too cut off funding for the UJC and Salahuddin has complained privately about the lack of funds and material from the security establishment. Some of the more brazen attacks in J&K in recent years have been claimed by the LeT.
Salahuddin's efforts over the years to bring militants group on a single platform yielded fruit in June 1994, when chiefs of several jihadi organisations agreed to form the UJC. Though some 16 groups are associated with the UJC, most of them are not active in J&K. They include LeT, JeM, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Tehrik-e-Jihad, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, Jamiatul-Mujahideen, Al Umar Mujahedeen and Al-Badr Mujahideen.