Jaish duo linked to key Kandahar terrorist

New Delhi: Investigations into the dramatic escape of the two suspected Jaish men from the capital have revealed that they were part of the outfit run by Maulana Abdul Rehman, a terrorist who had played a key role in the hijack of an Indian Airlines plane way back in 1999.
According to intelligence agencies, Maulana Abdul Rehman, codenamed MAR, parted ways with Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar and formed a new outfit, Jaish-ul-Haq Tanzeem.Under pressure from Pakistani spy agency ISI to outshine JeM, this group is now carrying out a recruitment drive and running training camps in some pockets of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Azhar's group is actively targeting India with Pathankot being their latest bid.
The duo's escape has confirmed reports of ISI-backed groups seeking support from Taliban and the Haqqani network. This lends credence to Indian security agencies' apprehension about terrorists entering India on medical visas.
In the past two months, the Indian agencies have been working on some leads emerging from the interrogation of the two terrorists. These inputs are being used to counter attempts by a few terror outfits to strike India. According to sources, the duo's confession report has opened a can of worms.
MAR runs a trust called al Barqat in Pakistan's Peshawar. The agencies have identified his deputy as one Dr Zubair. The head of India operations, including the one carried out in December, has been identified as Zameel from Pakistan's Punjab. Zameel was in touch with one Abid who manages one of the training camps of the outfit, the duo revealed.
According to sources, Durrani is a resident of Kohat district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. His elder brother, Salauddin, is a Taliban cadre who has been released from a Pakistani jail. The brothers ran a computer shop in Kohat till 2009. Qadri, a Pathan, and Durrani were introduced to two men, Hanzala and Junaid (both Afghans), who took them to a maulana named Nadir. It was Nadir who introduced them to MAR who lives on the Pakistan- Afghanistan border. The two men had procured Afghan passports.
According to their confession report, the duo has undergone training at an ISI-run camp in Bara Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They received training in the preparation of chemical IEDs from operatives named Wali Jaan and Haider. When a chemical IED explodes, it is supposed to generate a high-intensity fire so as to maximise the damage.
The duo also learned to travel through sea routes. Qadri had chosen the name of Shoib Abbas for his India operations. He procured a SIM card by submitting a fake passport as a proof of identity while in Delhi. Cops have quizzed the people the duo was in touch with.