New Delhi:
At least four Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists caught between 2014-17 were trained at the Jaish’s Balakot camp that was targeted by the Indian Air Force in a “non-military” strike on February 26, The Indian Express quoted official sources as saying. Balakot is in the Mansehra district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is 63 km north of Abbottabad. The Indian Air Force hit Jabha Top, a forested hilltop where the Jaish-e-Mohammed had its camp. The Jaish training camp in Balakot is named after Syed Ahmed Shaheed.
The four militants, all Pakistani, told during their interrogation that terrorists trained at Balakot were either sent to Afghanistan or Kashmir. According to officials, Waqas Mansoor, who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was arrested by security forces in 2014-15, said he was trained with 100 youths. “Mansoor was active in the Valley since 2007 and told us that 40 militants who were trained with him were sent to Kashmir while the remaining 60 were sent to wage war in Afghanistan,” The Indian Express a top government official saying, while revealing interrogation details of Mansoor.
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Earlier, Jaish-e-Mohammed confirmed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) indeed targeted it camps in Pakistan's Balakot with Israeli guided missiles on February 26. In the statement, Jaish said there has been growing pressure from India, the US and even Russia against Pakistan to take action against the terrorist group. It said the Pakistan government was planning action to satisfy the international community.
The Pakistan-based organisation said it feared Pakistan government might crack down on after coming under international pressure. It also asked its cadres to unite and be ready anytime to migrate. The terror group also fears shutting down of its Madarsas.
Jaish-e-Mohammed had identified suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar as the one who carried out the attack on February 14 that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama. In an unverified 10-minute video recorded before the attack, Dar also mentioned that many more people like him were ready to 'follow the same path'. Its chief Masood Azhar was suspected to be afflicted with renal failure and is under regular dialysis at an army hospital in Rawalpindi in Pakistan, officials said on Saturday.
