by Rohan Dua & Neeraj Chauhan in the Times of India, Feb 16, 2018
Lucknow/New Delhi: While Pakistan denies any involvement of terror tanzims based on its soil in the attack on the Indian army’s Sunjuwan camp, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar has bragged about his role in scripting the attack in Jammu.
In an audio tape, Azhar, who was released from an Indian prison in 1999 as part of a hostage-swap, does not seem to have any qualms in owning up the attack. Intelligence agencies of central and western Army commands have obtained the audio which has Azhar claiming to have taught a lesson to Indian agencies in Jammu.
The audio comes barely a week after three Jaish-e-Muhammed fidayeen (suicide attackers) launched an attack at 36 Brigade campus in Jammu, leaving 10 people dead. “India wale pareshan hai ki mujahideen Kashmir se Jammu shahr tak kaise pahunch gaye. Sanjuwan border par nahi balki Jammu main hai. (Indian agencies are shocked how our mujahideen managed to reach Jammu from Kashmir. Sanjuwan is not on the border but inside the heart of Jammu city),” Azhar is heard telling his cadre.
He then discloses how he is working in tandem with other terror outfits to launch simultaneous attacks with the hit on Sunjuwan camp followed by a strike in Srinagar. “Abhi Jammu ka mamla thama nahi tha, ki mujahideen ne Kashmir me Srinagar ko bhi jala diya (While Jammu terror siege was still on, our men set Srinagar afire),” says Azhar. The doublestrike strategy, seen as a new feature in jihadi attacks, seemed to be aimed at distracting the Indian forces.
Azhar continues to warn of his efforts to separate Kashmir from Jammu. “They have brought security forces in Jammu to fortify Kashmir, now we have broken that periphery,” he says.
Masood further mocks Indian agencies for not being able to ascertain the total number of terrorists at Jammu army camp. Indian intelligence agencies have already said this is the first time both Lashkar-e-Taiba and the JeM got together to launch twin terror attacks in Jammu and Srinagar despite public differences between them. https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/PrintArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F02%2F16&entity=ar01209&ts=20180216011552&uq=20180208045341&mode=text
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