Shoving off Lashkar, Jaish becomes the face of terror in Jammu and Kashmir

Forget Lashkar-e-Taiba, Moulana Masood Azhar led Jaish-e-Mohammad is fast becoming the face of terror in Jammu and Kashmir.

After lying low for some years, Jaish is emerging a formidable force on the terror map of the state. From Tangdhar attack to Pathankot attack to Uri fidayeen attack, Jaish militants are trying to leave Lashkar-e-Taiba behind in launching suicidal mission on military and other security formations in the state.

Four Jaish militants, in the age group of 18 to 22 years, stormed the headquarters of 12 infantry brigade in Uri killing 18 soldiers and injuring 20 others. All the four fidayeens, who were foreigners, were later killed. Sources said the attack again proved that Jaish is the new darling of Pakistani security and intelligence agencies who want to prop up its cadres to trim down its dependence on Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Jaish's revival process started when Indian army repulsed a major fidayeen (suicidal) attack on its Gorkha Riffles (GR) camp near the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar on November 25 last year. What rattled the forces was the recovery of bags inscribed with Afzal Guru Squad from the three slain Jaish-e-Mohammad militants.

Even before the security agencies could pick up the leads, Jaish militants struck again when they launched a fidayeen attack on the Pathankot airbase killing eight people including NSG officer and injuring 20 others on January 2. The operation continued till January 5 when the base was cleared by the forces.

Founded by Moulana Masood Azhar, one of the three militants released in exchange of passengers of the Indian Airlines flight IC 814 in 1999, Jaish-e-Mohammad has been the deadliest group only second to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). But after 2001, security forces had managed to break the back of Jaish by eliminating its top brass including Gazi Baba, the mastermind of the Parliament attack which prompted New Delhi to mobilize Indian army and launch Operation Parakaram.

Intelligence agencies pointed out that the Jaish is making all efforts to push in small group of highly trained militants into Kashmir to raise the cadre base from the local youth. Since January this year, the security forces have arrested two Pakistani Jaish militants who were tasked to establish local modules for fidayeen attacks in Baramulla.

After the arrest of Sadiq Gujjar (Pakistani Jaish commander) in February, Pakistani handlers had pushed in Abdul Rehman along with four other militants from Machil sector to recruit people for Jaish in Baramulla. But Rehman too was arrested which blew the lid off the conspiracy to revive Jaish in the north Kashmir.

Jaish' revival was again visible when security forces killed two Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammad commanders in Saria Bala locality, which is half a kilometre away from Civil Secretariat and Legislative Assembly in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar in May this year.

Police said the duo had taken a room on rent and were masquerading as engineering students in the area. Acting on specific information police raided a four storey residential building and shot dead both alleged Pakistani militants. Police identified one of them as Saifullah, a top Jaish commander who was operating in the central Kashmir for the last four years.

On October 4, 2015, two top Pakistani Jaish commanders Adil Pathan and Chota Burmi were killed in a surgical operation at Hariparigam Tral in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. Operating in the valley since 2010, the duo was involved in number of attacks on the security forces and civilians particularly in south Kashmir.

Revival process

Jaish's revival process started when Indian army repulsed a major fidayeen (suicidal) attack on its Gorkha Riffles (GR) camp near the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar on November 25 last year. What rattled the forces was the recovery of bags inscribed with Afzal Guru Squad from the three slain Jaish-e-Mohammad militants.

Even before the security agencies could pick up the leads, Jaish militants struck again when they launched a fidayeen attack on the Pathankot airbase killing eight people including NSG officer and injuring 20 others on January 2. The operation continued till January 5 when the base was cleared by the forces.