Killed Jaish terrorists had plans to disrupt PM Modi’s Jammu visit

Investigations into gunning down of two Jaish-e-Mohammed attackers by security forces in Sunjwan in Jammu have revealed that the terrorists wearing suicide vests had plans for mass casualties with the objective of disrupting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir today.

Interrogation of Bilal Ahmed Wage of Pulwama, the accomplice who picked up the two terrorists from Sapwal border in the Samba sector, and the guide, Shafiq Ahmed Sheikh of Avantipora, last Wednesday night revealed that Jaish attackers had plans to blow up inside a camp of security forces and cause mass killings. The objective was to create a situation that would force PM Modi to cancel his Jammu visit.

The two suicide attackers were engaged by security forces on April 21 late evening and neutralized by the next morning on Friday. Today, two more Jaish terrorists have been neutralized in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam in South Kashmir.

Suicide vest of killed Jaish attacker at Sunjwan.

While the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security agencies are further investigating the linkages of the terrorists killed in the Sunjwan encounter, there are intelligence inputs to indicate that the Pakistan Army surrounded the Bahawalpur Headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed and asked the inmates to hand over weapons while simultaneously conducting searches in the main seminary. The details of the searches at Bahawalpur at best remain sketchy and further confirmation is awaited.

Had the Sunjwan terrorists been successful in engaging the security forces in a terror strike with resultant mass casualties like the 2019 Pulwama strike, it would have not only caused embarrassment to the Modi government but also forced it to take retaliatory measures against the group in Pakistan. It would have also shown the new Shehbaz Sharif government in poor light and put bilateral relations in deep freeze again.

However, Pakistan Army is not only facing problems on its eastern borders with terrorist groups like Jaish launching solo jihadist operations, it is also having to contend with a new offensive from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan on the western border with Afghanistan. After the Pakistan Army launched airstrikes against so-called TTP positions along the Durand Line, the Taliban rulers in Kabul along with Haqqani Network have come out in support of the TTP against Islamabad and have vowed revenge by taking down the border fencing.