Hindustan Times (Bathinda)

Teen made video hailing jihad before Pulwama attack

- Toufiq Rashid letters@hindustant­imes.com ■ ■

SRINAGAR: A day after five CRPF troopers were killed in a suicide attack by three militants in Pulwama in south Kashmir, the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-mohammad released a video of one of the attackers urging Muslims and particular­ly Kashmiri youth to join the “fight against India’’.

Sitting with assault rifles and ammunition around him, 17-year-old Fardeen Ahmad Khanday, son of a serving police official, looks calm and composed saying that “by the time the video is released I would be in paradise.”

His life as a militant barely lasted three months before it ended in hail of fire on Sunday in the CRPF facility.

In the Jaish video, Fardeen who was from Tral in south Kashmir, insists that the “rise of militancy has nothing to do with unemployme­nt as being portrayed by India, but a reaction to Kashmir’s occupation by India’’.

Fardeen talks about demolition of Babri Masjid, attacks like Pathankot, Tangdhar, Pulwama police lines among others and urges Indian Muslims to join the ranks of militants.

The teenager eulogises Jaish leader Maulana Masood Azhar, one of India’s most wanted men and Afzal Guru who was hanged for his role in the Parliament attack.

SAYS THE ‘RISE OF MILITANCY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH UNEMPLOYME­NT’

Five troopers and three militants were killed in a firefight at a CPRF camp in a pre-dawn strike in Pulwama on Sunday for which the Jaish claimed responsibi­lity.

The counter operation launched by the forces against the militants who attacked the camp ended on Monday following the recovery of the body of another militant, the police said.

 ??  ?? Fardeen Ahmad Khanday was a son of serving J&K cop.
Fardeen Ahmad Khanday was a son of serving J&K cop.

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