'Jihad in Kashmir': Lashkar-e-Taiba Commanders Call For All-Out Militancy Against Indian Forces

Peshawar, May 12:  Commanders of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit held a special meeting in Peshawar recently and called for a `jihad' in Kashmir. LeT's former operational commander in Kashmir, Abu Akasha, reportedly interacted with cadres who have recently completed their training. He said, "All those cadres, who have already completed, `Daura Lashkar' must present themselves for launching into J&K".

Akasha also asked district in-charges to contact all such cadres who have already attained training and are not in contact with office bearers of the organization.

He said, "Many such cadres, who have attained training have lost contact with the organization; it is the duty of the office-bearers to locate the lost trained cadres and get them back to the main functioning of the organisation".

Headed by Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Taiba is responsible for carrying out several attacks in the Kashmir valley. It runs several training camps across Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and enjoy the support of Pakistan Army and the ISI.

Another commander of LeT, Aris Hammad, focused on `Jihad' and the need to defend Islam from what he called infidel powers. While showing a map of Kashmir, he tried to raise public sentiments. He mentioned that their people (LeT cadres) are in Kashmir and embracing `martyrdom'.

He said, "Kashmir is linked to Pakistan's stability and integrity. Kashmir's freedom is necessary for completion of Pakistan. All Islamic countries of the Middle East and other regions have high hopes on Pakistan as only Pakistan can defend itself at its own. It is a nuclear and jihadi power".

"Pakistan's security is directly linked to Kashmir. Pakistan depends on waters flowing through Kashmir and is called jugular vein", added Hammad. He confirmed that the LeT is regularly sending militants across the border to create disturbances in the Kashmir valley.

"Since the beginning of 2017, during the period of one and a half year there has been the regular launching of `Mujahideen' (of LeT) into the Valley and it is the matter of pride that not even a single `Mujahid' got killed at LoC", said Hammad.

Despite global condemnation to its support to terrorism, Pakistan continues to harbour these militants who openly do rallies and mislead the people about their wrongdoings.