As India targets intruders across LoC, Talibani veterans join Jaish in PoK to infiltrate Kashmir

Amid Indian Army’s successful attempt to thwart an infiltration bid by Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT), sources have told Intelligence Bureau (IB) that large groups of Pakistan-based terror organisations Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) appear to be desperate to push into the Valley to carry out fidayeen attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, reports suggest.
The suicide squads of the Pakistan-based terror outfits are believed to be scattered around their launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC).
Sources told a news agency that off late, Talibani veterans have joined JeM in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) along the LoC in order to target Indian establishment. These veterans have been armed with sophisticated weapons by the Pakistan-based terror outfits, sources had said.
Under the cover of cross-border filing along the LoC in the last 14 days, sources said that small groups of fidayeen terrorists had allegedly infiltrated into the high reaches of south Kashmir.
In a significant development, reports suggested that veterans of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have joined JeM and LeT groups to execute terror attacks in J&K.
Notably, the Indian troops had recovered an advance M24 sniper two days ago in the Chandanwari (Amarnath Yatra route), which has generally been used by Talibani veterans in the past.
Meanwhile, sources also told the news agency that handlers of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were playing a crucial role in JeM and LeT’s plans to carry out fidayeen attacks in India.
Reportedly, the ISI planned to target the mass flag hoisting ceremonies across all villages of Jammu and Kashmir on August 15. This comes after Home Minister Amit Shah has planned flag hoisting at the village panchayats across the Valley this year, in a bid to bolster nationalist sentiments in the state.
Reports of infiltration of Army-trained terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir have put the top security establishment in New Delhi on high alert.
In view of the security alert, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and a team of top security officials had visited Srinagar last week for an immediate assessment of the ground situation in the state.
Based on the observations in the NDA’s assessment report, the Centre has sent additional paramilitary forces in the Valley in order to tighten security.
The Centre’s decision to curtail the Amarnath Yatra – which was to end on August 15 – and the evacuation of domestic and foreign tourists in the Valley was reportedly taken as part of security measures in response to threats of JeM and LeT terrorists planning multiple terror strikes in Kashmir around August 15, when India celebrates its Independence Day.
On Saturday, the Indian Army said in a statement that its troops had foiled an infiltration bid by Pakistan’s BAT (Border Action Team) squad across the Line of Control in J&K’s Keran sector on the intervening night of July 31 and August 1. At least 5-7 Pakistan Army regulars, or intruders, were neutralised by Indian troops in the counter-operations, with their bodies lying near the LoC, the Army said.