The ‘global terrorist’ tag on Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar would impact militancy in Kashmir, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said.
“It will have vital ramifications not only at the international level but in the Valley as well,” Singh said and added that the police will continue to deal with Jaish under law.
After the UN designating Azhar as ‘global terrorist’, Singh said the outfit would now face more pressure and logistical and other problems.
“We are aggressively pursuing counter-terror operations against Jaish in Kashmir and have killed over two dozen leaders and cadres in recent months. All this is bound to have a cumulative effect, affecting Jaish’s position and capabilities in Kashmir,” Singh said.
Pakistan, Singh added, would now be required to freeze the funds and financial assets of Azhar, enforce a travel ban on him, and cut off his access to arms and related materials.
“When there is no access to arms and related materials, it will impact outfit’s terror activities in the Valley,” he said.
Azhar had created Jaish barely three months after he was released by the government as part of a swap deal to secure the release of over 150 passengers aboard an Indian Airlines flight hijacked to Kandahar in 1999. The militant outfit has carried out most ‘fidayeen’ attacks in Kashmir, many of which have inflicted high casualties of security forces in valley.
The records available with police reveal that Jaish currently has around 45-50 leaders and cadres in the Valley, of which two-thirds are foreigners. The records add that so far this year over 72 militants have been killed and 12 have been apprehended.
It adds that post Pulwama suicide attack over 47 militants have been killed and out of them 28 belonged to Jaish.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon recently said after the killing of more than a dozen top commanders of Jaish, post Pulwama attack, no one in Kashmir is coming forward to take over its leadership in the Valley.
