LAHORE: On the heels of the much-awaited Indo-Pakistan secretary-level talks, the Indian authorities have sought intelligence sharing from Pakistan regarding the possible whereabouts of Commander Ilyas Kashmiri, the fugitive ameer of the Harkatul Jehadul Islami (HUJI), an al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani jehadi group, which recently threatened to target international sporting events being hosted by India this year.
According to well placed diplomatic circles in Islamabad, the Indian intelligence agencies want from their Pakistani counterparts credible information about the likely whereabouts of Ilyas Kashmiri and his possible links with some other jehadi groups, especially Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) which is also believed to be involved in the February 15, 2010 bomb blast at the German Bakery in Indian city of Pune, killing 10 people including two foreigners. The attack came hardly 24 hours after India and Pakistan agreed to resume their stalled foreign-secretary-level talks in New Delhi from February 25.
However, a few hours after the Pune bombing, an email message sent by Ilyas Kashmiri implied the involvement of his 313 Brigade, which is believed to be an operational arm of al-Qaeda ands pursuing its jehadi agenda in Pakistan while working in tandem with several other militant groups. Diplomatic circles say some Pakistan-based pro-Kashmir jehadi organisations have accelerated their terrorist activities to sabotage the Indo-Pakistan confidence-building process and scuttle the ice-breaking secretary-level talks between the two nuclear neighbours. Therefore, they say, Kashmiri’s recent threat to target the upcoming international sporting events to be held India was timed to derail the scheduled resumption of the Indo-Pak peace talks.
The text of the emailed message sent by Commander Ilyas Kashmiri on February 15 read: “We warn the international community not to send their people to 2010 Hockey World Cup, Indian Premier League and Commonwealth Games [to be held in Delhi later this year]. Nor should their people visit India – if they do, they will be responsible for the consequences. We, the mujahideen of 313 Brigade, vow to continue attacks all across India until the Indian Army leaves Jammu Kashmir and gives the Kashmiris their right of self-determination. We assure the Muslims of the subcontinent we will never forget the massacre of the Muslims in Gujarat and the demolition of Babri Masjid. The entire Muslim community is one body and we will take revenge for all injustices and tyranny. We once again warn the Indian government to compensate for all its injustices. Otherwise, they will see our next action”.
The Pakistani authorities believe that Kashmiri is currently based in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. However, they point out that while the HUJI ameer had only implied his group’s involvement in the Pune bombing, an unknown jehadi group Lashkar-e-Toiba Al Alami officially claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call on February 17, made to an Islamabad-based Indian journalist, Ms Nirupama Subramanian. Identifying himself as a spokesperson on behalf of a group calling itself the Lashkar-e-Taiba al-Almi, an individual using the code-name ‘Abu Jindal’ said the bombing was carried out because of India’s refusal to discuss the Kashmir issue in the coming talks with Pakistan. ‘Abu Jindal’ said he was calling from Miramshah in North Waziristan, and the phone number used to make the call carried an area code common to the Waziristan belt. The caller also said the group had split from the Lashkar-e-Taiba because it took orders from Pakistan agencies.
While the Pakistan chapter of the Harkatul Jehadul Islami is led by Qari Saifullah Akhtar, its Azad Kashmir chapter is autonomous and headed by Ilyas Kashmiri, a veteran of the Kashmir jehad who has spent several years in an Indian jail. He has reportedly conducted several major military actions in India, including the 1994 Al-Hadid operation in Delhi, to get some of his jehadi comrades released. His second-in-command at that time was believed to be Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed, already convicted for the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi.
Kashmiri was arrested by the Pakistani authorities after the December 2003 twin suicide attacks on General Musharraf’s presidential cavalcade in Rawalpindi, but released a few weeks later due to a lack of evidence regarding his involvement. He later shifted his base to the North Waziristan region on the Pak-Afghan tribal belt and joined hands with the then ameer of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Baitullah Mehsud.
Temporarily switching from the freedom struggle in Jammu & Kashmir to the Taliban-led resistance against NATO forces in Afghanistan, Kashmiri established a training camp in the Razmak area of North Waziristan and shifted most of his warriors from HUJI’s Kotli military training camp in Azad Kashmir. Since then, he has established himself as the chief of al-Qaeda’s shadow army – Lashkar-e-Zil (LeZ), a loose alliance of al-Qaeda-and Taliban-linked anti-US militia which has distinguished itself by conducting unusual guerilla operations, like the one that targeted the CIA’s Forward Operating Base in Khost on December 31, 2009. But lately, even the Pakistani security agencies suspect his involvement in the recent wave of suicide bombings in Azad Kashmir, targeting the armed forces. In May 2009, Ilyas Kashmiri was accused of plotting to kill Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani due to his role in the war against terrorism.
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