ISI has floated new terror outfit, says militant

JAMMU - Pakistan’s spy agency ISI has floated a new terror outfit called Jammu Kashmir Mujahideen (JKM) in an apparent bid to camouflage the activities of the banned terror groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba, says a militant who surrendered after returning from Pakistan administered Kashmir.

Liyakat Hussain surrendered before the Indian Army at the Line of Control (LoC) at Gotrian in Poonch sector Saturday. He had come along with his wife and three children.

Liyakat, who was handed over to the state police Saturday evening, not only disclosed that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers regularly visited militants’ training camps in Pakistan administered Kashmir, but also said that it had set up a new “tanzeem” or militant outfit, police sources said Monday.

The outfit has been given a name that gels with Jammu and Kashmir, unlike the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which have pan-Islamic nomenclature. The two terror outfits are held responsible for many terror attacks in India and are said to be actively involved in terror plots in western countries. The two have been listed as banned groups by the US and Britain and their funds have been frozen in foreign countries.

Liyakat, who was one among 100 picked up for the new group Jammu Kashmir Mujahadeen, told the police that the group had highly trained militants who had worked with LeT and JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen, police sources said.

The police are still interrogating Liyakat, seeking more information on the new outfit, the sources added.

Liyakat had first gone to the other side in 1999, returned in 2000, and after staying on in Jammu and Kashmir for two years, went back along with wife Khalida in 2001, police said.