New Delhi, Sep 11: Security agencies intensified counter-terror operations across Jammu and Kashmir after intelligence inputs confirmed a strategic operational shift by Pakistan-backed terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed to resume targeted strikes in the Valley.
The inputs suggest that a three-pronged strategy has been adopted by groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to resume terror strikes in the Valley.
An official said that while there is an online propaganda campaign aimed at targeting Kashmiri Pandits and migrant workers, a new recruitment module has also been put in place.
LeT has also instructed its handlers to focus only on small hit-and-run jobs in the Valley for now, the official added.
“The recruiters are exploiting digital anonymity to target and recruit youth in Jammu and Kashmir. They are deliberately selecting individuals with no previous police records or security files to evade scrutiny. The objective is to use such individuals to carry out hit-and-run attacks without immediately attracting the attention of security agencies,” the official said.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that the idea is to strike but not too regularly.
The strikes need to be spaced out and remain isolated. Such attacks require little planning, and a recruit with no prior record can easily carry a pistol and carry out a hit, the official added.
Once recruits join the network, the weapon typically passes through at least 10 people. The pistol is handed from one person to another before reaching the individual assigned to carry out the hit job.
“The recruit is not given a specific target or identity. He is allowed to choose the target, as well as the time and place for carrying out the attack,” the official said.
However, the Lashkar wants only the locals working with the Jammu and Kashmir police, Kashmiri Pandits and migrant workers as targets.
Another official said this could explain the sharp rise in online propaganda and threat campaigns over the past couple of weeks.
Threats in the name of the United Liberation Council (ULC) are being issued online regularly, urging the people to target the Kashmiri Pandits, local police and migrant workers.
“This online propaganda is not intended merely to distract security agencies. The ULC is also attempting to influence and radicalise youth, making them more susceptible to recruitment for small-scale hit jobs when approached by a recruiter,” the official added.
Officials said that such online campaigns also create fear and panic among people, adding that Lashkar hopes that those it seeks to target will eventually be forced to leave the Valley, officials said.
With heightened security owing to this latest strategy by the LeT, the agencies are also tracking the digital footprint through which this campaign is being run.
The agencies are also undertaking intelligence-led operations to identify recruits and the routes taken by those tasked with delivering the weapon for the attack.
In its latest threat, the ULC, while targeting the Kashmiri Pandits, also issued a threat to women. It said that women and their families would be targeted.
It has warned Kashmiri Pandits against becoming part of separate settlements. The objective is to deepen divisions and pit different sections of the population against each other. This could eventually fuel communal tensions and trigger violence.
The Lashkar is also suspected to be preparing for larger attacks in the Valley. The outfit is waiting for an opportunity to facilitate the infiltration of Pakistani terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir, who would then be used to carry out major attacks.
Until then, the outfit plans to create chaos and confusion in Jammu and Kashmir and drive a wedge between communities to disrupt the social fabric, another official said.–(IANS)
