From 0 in 2016 to 60 in 2019: Jaish went from dormant to deadly in 3 years

Srinagar, Feb 15: The Jaish-e-Mohamamad on Thursday carried out one of the most lethal strikes in Jammu and Kashmir, in which nearly 44 CRPF jawans were martyred. Adil Hussain Dar rammed an explosive laden Scorpio car into a bus carrying the jawans in Pulwama.

Security officials have always warned that the Jaish is the deadliest terror group in the Valley and poses the highest threat due to the kind of attacks it can carry out. Ironically this group has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. From being dormant, the Jaish has become the most dreaded groups in the Valley over the years.

Currently the Jaish has a terrorist strength of over 60 in the Valley. It has also created suicide and sniper squads in the Valley.

The security forces say that while the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba have been dented largely, the Jaish on the other hand has become deadlier. The terror group did not have a single terrorist in the Valley in 2016. However in the past three years, it has managed to grow in terms of strength and numbers in the Valley.

The Jaish headed by Maulana Masood Azhar was founded in 2000. However after making a deadly start in the Valley, it had become dormant for long. It is since the Pathankot attack that we have begun to witness that the group has been raising its ugly head once again.

The group may not have the numbers that the Hizbul Mujahideen has, but it is more deadly than another terror group in the Valley. If one were to do a comparison of the numbers, the Hizbul has anything between 200 to 300 operatives in comparison to 40 to 60 that the Jaish has.

Now, what makes the Jaish so lethal? First and foremost, these terrorists are highly trained and have state of the art weapons. The M4 Carbine was first brought into the Valley by this group. The other factor is that the group puts in place a plan before staging an attack. It undergoes the entire process of recruitment, training, reconnaissance and then carrying out an attack.

The Hizbul Mujahideen on the other hand shows its dominance through its numbers. Most of their terrorists are untrained and do not have powerful weapons. The recent plea by the Hizbul Mujahideen commander through a video message complaining about the lack of weapons or outdated ones is a clear indicator of what the strength of the outfit is.

An Intelligence Bureau official explains to OneIndia that the Hizbul was a fading outfit, brought back to life by a social media campaign by slain commander of the outfit, Burhan Wani. This went on to become a fad and their presence became restricted largely to the social media through which they indulged in propaganda.

The Jaish on the other hand which is nurtured by the Pakistan army and ISI has grown in terms of strength. Pakistan has been investing more into this group and with a free flow of funds and access to the best possible weaponry has gone on to become extremely lethal. Moreover the Jaish focuses on big operations and attacks at Nagrota and Pathankot are proof of this.

Over the past couple of months, several local youth have been making a beeline towards this outfit. The Jaish, however uses only its Pakistani terrorists in big attacks. The locals are tasked with gathering information and logistics, security officials say. The choice of Pakistani terrorists for major attacks is due to the fact that they are highly trained. These terrorists undergo extensive training before they are launched into the Valley, officials also say.

Officials also admit that the encounters with the Jaish terrorists especially those from Pakistan are the hardest. Firstly they are highly trained, secondly they have sophisticated weapons and more importantly they are ready to die. They plan only in terms of fidayeen attacks and this makes the encounters difficult the officer added.