JeM looks to step up VIED attacks in Valley, with backing of Afghan war veteran

New Delhi, June 21: An Afghan war veteran, now a commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad is behind the use of Improvised Explosive Devices in the Valley.

The revelation comes following the investigations that were conducted post the IED attack at Arihal, in Pulwama on Monday in which two soldiers were martyred and several others injured.

Ghazi, according to Intelligence Bureau officials is behind the series of IED incidents in the Valley. Two days back, security forces had defused an IED at Shopian in South Kashmir.

Ghazi, according to the intelligence had infiltrated into the Valley in December 2018 and set up a base in Pulwama. Since then he has been involved in a series of incidents. Officials say that his primary role is to train the local terrorists.

An Afghan war veteran, Ghazi is also an expert with IEDs. He is also the one who introduced the VIEDs or Vehicle Improvised Explosive Device in the Valley. In the Pulwama attack earlier this year, a vehicle borne bomb rammed into a CRPF vehicle in which 40 jawans were martyred.

Before he infiltrated into the Valley, he had personally overseen the training of Usman Haider, the nephew of JeM chief, Maulana Masood Azhar. He was also instrumental in launching Talha Rasheed, also a nephew of Azhar. The JeM decided to step up attacks on the security forces after both Rasheed and Haider were gunned down in separate encounters.

Officials say that the JeM is likely to use more VIED styled attacks in the future. The VIEDs, according to the JeM is a more lethal weapon. It does not involve an encounter and if it manages to hit the target, the casualties are also higher. Moreover, the other intention to use a VIED is also to do with the falling numbers of the JeM in the Valley, which today has an approximate strength of 30-40.