12 days after Pulwama, IAF hits back Intel shows Jaish was training more suicide attackers

NERVE CENTRE Jaba Top terror camp, which India hit, held around 300 recruits, an ammunitions dump and a firing range

NEW DELHI: Balakot’s Jaba Top first emerged as a preferred training ground for militants in the time of President Zia-ul-haq. It was an ideal place for a camp for non-state actors — remote, located near a small town, yet far enough from it, on a wooded hilltop, and on Pakistani territory in the Khyber-pakhtunkhwa. India crossed into Pakistan’s territory in 1971 (and then again, its aircraft on Tuesday), and so the Pakistanis may have thought it was a good place to host a training camp for militants whom the rest of the world called terrorists.

The camp’s name reflects the history of Balakot. It is named Markaj Syed Ahmed Shaheed (Centre Syed Ahmad Martyr). Syed Ahmad Barelvi was originally from Rae Bareli (explaining his name) in what is now known as Uttar Pradesh and is considered to be an Islamic martyr by Deobandis and those who belong to the Ahle Hadis sect. He died fighting in Balakot against the Sikh regime in 1831 along with Shah Ismail Dehlvi (who was from Delhi). Both are now mentioned in many jihadi videos as role models for militants for waging jihad against non-believers

It was in 2001 when reports first emerged of Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM) , founded by Masood Azhar, moving its HQ from Afghanistan (Azhar has always been close to al-qaeda and the Taliban, which welcomed him after India released him in exchange for passengers of a hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft in 1999). Indian intelligence officials believe that Jaish chief Masood Azhar wrote Fath-uljawwad, his long essay on the Quranic basis for waging militant jihad, in Balakot.

Interestingly, in his essay he mentioned both Syed Ahmed Barelvi and Shah Ismail Dehlvi.

Since then, it has been well-known in intelligence circles that JEM has a significant presence in the area, a mere 40km by road from Muzaffarbad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but which is clearly on Pakistani territory.

Photographs released by Indian intelligence agencies after the attack show considerable infrastructure, including what the agencies claim is an ammunitions dump, a meeting hall with JEM messages displayed prominently, steps with flags of countries JEM considers enemies (Israel and the United States, for instance) painted on the ground (so that recruits can step on them), and a board advertising the presence of a religious training facility run by Yusuf Azhar (with his mobile phone number), under the auspices of the larger organisation run by Masood Azhar, whose mobile number is also mentioned. Yusuf Azhar, Masood Azhar’s brotherin-law, was involved in the 1999 hijacking of IC-814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar and the person in charge of the camp. Masood Azhar’s son, Abdullah, was also trained at the facility. The officials say that Jem’s Border Action Teams were trained at Balakot, and that Abdul Rashed Ghaz, an explosives expert considered to be the mastermind behind the February 14 Pulwama suicide attack, was once a trainer at the camp.

The intelligence officials add that the camp is spread over six acres of forest land and can accommodate around 600 people at a time. It has a firing range, swimming pool and gymnasium, they said. According to them, the JEM is believed to have moved close to 300 terrorists to the camp after the Pulwama attack for safekeeping and training.

The intelligence officials said around 325 people were killed in the attack, all six barracks in the camp destroyed, and the ammunition depot blown up. Indian officials said they believed Yusuf Azhar was at the camp at the time of the predawn air strikes on Tuesday, but could not confirm if he was killed in operation.

OFFICIALS SAY AFTER THE PULWAMA ATTACK, PAK MILITANTS VACATED BORDER LAUNCH

PADS ANTICIPATING A RETALIATORY STRIKE BY INDIAN FORCES

NEWDELHI: Immediately after the February 14 Pulwama bombing, intelligence agencies received information that the Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM) was planning to carry out another suicide strike on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, and elsewhere in India, too.that input necessitated the pre-dawn Balakot strike on Tuesday, multiple officials familiar with the development said.

Post-attack chatter in Pakistan intercepted by Indian agencies suggests Masood Azhar’s brother-in-law, Yusuf Azhar, who headed the Balakot camp, may have been killed in the air strike, officials said, but added that they were yet to receive confirmation of the death from the ground.

“The input on Jaish preparing for another suicide attack was based on human-source intelligence (Humint) and shared last week with relevant agencies working in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. The input showed Jaish will be relentless in carrying out the proxy war on behalf of the Pakistani army,” said a central counter-terror official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale also said the Balakot air strike was ordered on the basis of credible intelligence that JEM was planning suicide terror attacks in various parts of the country, and that it was training people to carry them out. A preemptive strike had become absolutely necessary, Gokhale added.

Security officials said besides the Humint of another attack, there had been multiple other indications that JEM was planning another spectacular strike in the Valley. “There were a few Whatsapp messages circulating in Valley’s jihadi circles which caught the security officials’ attention. They talked about another attack. It was shared with relevant agencies, the intelligence-sharing platform,” said another security official based in Srinagar. Intelligence officials said after the February 14 attack, militants from JEM and other terrorist outfits in Pakistan vacated the border launch pads anticipating a retaliatory strike by Indian forces. They moved back to their main centres, away from the Line of Control. “Generally, the border launch pads are ramshackle facilities and there is not much infrastructure to target there if there are no terrorists there. If Jaish was to be hit hard, Balakot camp was the right target because it had considerable infrastructure to be targeted,” said another security official.

The external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), too came up with a list of six targets that India could strike. The Balakot camp was high on the list given its absolute importance for JEM and the symbolic value it carried. The list of targets was handed over the government two to three days after the Pulwama attack.

“R&AW came up with hard intelligence that Masood Azhar’s brother-in-law Yusuf Azhar was present in the camp and it has started a new training course for recruits there on February 23,” said a government official aware of the development. The official, who requested anonymity, said the agency informed the government that at the moment the camp could be housing between 300 and 450 people. The government on February 18 asked the Indian Air Force to prepare a plan to target the Balakot camp.