Pakistan’s terrorism network

A Confidential report prepared by the Deputy Commissioner of Sheikhupura on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, submitted to the former Prime Minister, Mrs Benazir Bhutto, affirmed the existence of 38 terrorist training centres from where recruits were regularly sent on “jehad” missions to Kashmir and other parts of the world.

Facts and figures about Pakistan’s role in fostering terrorism in India compiled by Indian security forces are as follows: Number of terrorist camps in Pakistan 37; number of terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 49; number of Pakistan-run terrorist camps in Afghanistan: 22; total number of hardcore terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir: 2300; total number of foreign mercenaries operating in Jammu and Kashmir: 900; number of Pakistan terrorists killed by Indian security forces: 291; number of Indian civilians killed by Pakistan terrorists: over 29,000.

Number of firearms recovered from Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 47,000; amount of explosives recovered from Pakistan-trained terrorists in India: 60 tons (3,000 kg); number of explosions carried out by Pakistan-trained terrorist in India: 4,730; nationalities of foreign mercenaries operating in Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq.

Number of people in Jammu and Kashmir killed in violence waged by Pakistan-supported terrorists over the last decade: over 20,000.

Ethnic cleansing in Kashmir: Nearly 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits (original Hindu inhabitants of Kashmir Valley) driven out of their ancestral homeland by Pakistan-supported terrorists.

Pakistan’s response to charges of aiding and abetting terrorism: “It only provides diplomatic and moral support to the terrorists”. This is refuted in “credible reports of official Pakistani support to Kashmir terrorist groups...’’ in the US State Department 1997 report on global terrorism.

Seventy per cent of Pakistan’s budget goes to support the military and debt servicing. A large portion of the military spending goes towards its operations in J&K, including underwriting Kashmiri terrorists. (NY Times, Aug 30; The Tribune, Oct 10, 1998).

Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA) is an Islamic militant group, based in Muzaffarabad Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, that seeks Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan. It was formed in October, 1993, when two Pakistani political activist groups, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al -Islam and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, merged. According to the leader of the alliance Maulana Saadatullah Khan, the group’s objective is to continue the armed struggle against non-believers and anti-Islamic forces. The HuA uses light and heavy machine guns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives and rockets and is open to all who support the HuA’s objectives and are willing to take the group’s 40-day training course. It has a core militant group of about 300, mostly Pakistani and Kashmiri but includes veterans of the Afghan war.

The US State Department warned Pakistan, in January, 1993, that on account of its alleged support of terrorist activities in Kashmir and Punjab it was being put under “active continuing review” in order to determine whether it should be placed on the terrorist State list. In July, 1993, Pakistan was removed from the informal terrorist “watch list” when the State Department determined that Pakistan had implemented “a policy of ending official support for terrorists in India” However, the 1994 State Department terrorism report, released in April, 1995, stated; “There were credible reports in 1994 of official Pakistani support to Kashmiri militants who undertook attacks of terrorism in India-controlled Kashmir.”

After six years of official silence on Pakistani support for terrorism in Kashmir, the Clinton administration is finally recognising the long-standing Pakistani threat to the region. US President Clinton called Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and asked him to withdraw the invaders from Jammu and Kashmir State of India.

On June 22, 1999 CNN pointed out that the invaders occupying the heights above Dras “had been directing Pakistani artillery until yesterday, forcing the town’s residents to flee.” This underscores the synergetic relationship between the Pakistani military and the invading force in the Kargil-Dras-Batalik regions. CNN elaborated that “the invaders consist of Pakistani soldiers supported by mercenaries belonging to some of the most deadly terrorist organisations in the world today: Harkat-ul-Ansar, Al-Badr, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, all associated with terrorist financier Osama bin Laden.

This was followed by a newspaper article by Pakistani fundamentalist group Jamaat-e-Islam calling on the Pakistani Government to end its hypocrisy and admit the close support its army provides to the Islamic mercenaries in Kashmir.

Finally, in the last week of June, 1999, the USA came out openly holding Pakistan responsible for the fighting in Kargil. It accused Pakistan for exporting Talibanisation to Kashmir, and rejected Pakistani lies about the invaders being “Kashmiri freedom fighters”. Most recently the conferring by the Pakistan Government of gallantry awards to men of the Northern Light Infantry who had led the intrusion into the Dras-Kargil sector finally nailed the Pakistani lie about its direct involvement in promoting terrorism.