At least four Jaish terrorists arrested between 2014-17 were trained in Balakot terror camp struck by India’s airstrikes: Report

India’s ‘non-military pre-emptive strikes’ against the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps deep inside Pakistani territories may have killed a huge number of Islamic terrorists who had intended to inflict terror on the Indian Soil. Interestingly, an Indian Express report suggests that at least four terrorists caught in the last fours years were all trained at Balakot.

According to the report, at least four Islamic terrorists belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad, who was caught by the Indian security officials between 2014-17 were trained at the terrorist camps of Balakot. All the four terrorists, who belong to Pakistan, has revealed to the security forces that they were all trained at Balakot and sent to either Afghanistan or Kashmir.

Waqas Mansoor, a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan who was arrested by security forces in 2014-15 has reportedly revealed that he was trained along with 100 other youths in Balakot. “Mansoor was active in the Valley since 2007 and told us that 40 terrorists who were trained with him were sent to Kashmir while the remaining 60 were sent to wage war in Afghanistan,” a top government official was quoted in the report.

According to officials, Mansoor was involved in two major attacks in the Valley. First, in March 2009 when he was part of a group of terrorists that attacked Army personnel at Lolab near Kupwara, where four army personnel had died. In June 2009, Mansoor was involved in another attack in which six Armymen had died. “Mansoor, upon his return to Pakistan in 2010, joined Lashkar and was trained at LeT’s center in Mansera,” officials added.

The Indian Express report suggests that the Jaish terrorists had undergone different training courses. The terrorists were trained with a three-month advance combat course called Daura-e-Khas and an advanced arms training course called Daura-Al-Raad, officials said.

Another Jaish terrorist identified as Abdul Rehman Mughal alias Raja who was arrested in 2016 had said during interrogation that every terrorist sent to Kashmir was given a code name. According to officials, Mughal’s code name was Romeo and he was tasked to set up training camps in Kashmir. Mughal had also revealed to the authorities that to become a ‘Fidayeen’ or suicide attacker, one has to express willingness and submit it in writing to the camp commander.

Another Pakistani terrorist Nasir Mohd Awain, who belongs to Attock in Pakistan and arrested in Kashmir in 2014, had said during the interrogation that the Balakot camp had over 80 trainers. He was involved in an attack on Radio Kashmir in 2003 in which one CRPF personnel and one BSF personnel were killed, said officials.

The officials reportedly revealed that another terrorist, Mohd Sajid Gujjar, a resident of Sialkot in Pakistan who was involved in an attack on November 3, 2015, at an Army camp in Tangdhar had also received training at Balakot. Gujjar along with Rizwan, Hussain Pathan and Muivah had attacked the Army camp. Gujjar was arrested, while the other three terrorists were killed. “All of them were Pakistani nationals who trained with Gujjar at Balakot camp and infiltrated into the Valley together,” the report cites a senior official saying.

Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000 fighters had destroyed multiple terrorist camps deep inside Pakistan to avenge the death of soldiers in the Pulwama terror attack. The Indian Air Force had carried out the pre-emptive attack to destroy the terror camps operated by the proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad. It was reported that the IAF jets had pulverised terror camps in Balakot (Pakistan), Muzaffarabad (PoK) and Chakoti (PoK) in the well-planned strike involving a fleet of IAF jets and other military jets.