Former Pakistan army officers, along with battle-hardened terrorists from Pakistan and Afghanistan, were responsible for the attack on an IAF convoy in Poonch that resulted in the death of one IAF corporal rank officer, said officials.
US-made abandoned weapons in Afghanistan have found their way to Kashmir, and similarly, terrorists trained in Afghanistan are thought to have entered the Rajouri and Poonch regions. The same squad carried out the latest attack on a military vehicle in Poonch.
Intelligence agencies believe that over two dozen terrorists have infiltrated the sensitive Poonch and Rajouri districts.
Intelligence services have gathered evidence from various sources and concluded that three terrorists were most likely responsible for the attack on an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in the Shahsitar district of Poonch on May 4, which killed one man and wounded four more.
Army intelligence had obtained information following previous ambushes in Poonch that the participation of former Pakistani troops could not be ruled out, as these assaults were carried out by well-trained personnel with military-grade training.
Three names have emerged following the latest incident. These include Illiyas, also known as Fauji, a former Pakistani army soldier, and two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, Abu Hamza and Hadun. Intelligence agencies obtained the information after ground and technological surveillance.
The development also reveals Pakistan's ISI's new strategy, which involves sending retired troops with terrorists to commit assaults on security forces, particularly in the Rajouri and Poonch districts near the Line of Control (LoC). This is not the first time the name of a retired Pakistani army member has appeared in a terror assault.
In November 2023, former GOC-in-C of Northern Command, Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, who is currently the Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, stated that numerous terrorists killed in various encounters in Jammu and Kashmir were identified as retired Pakistani Army troops.
It is thought that, in the absence of indigenous terrorists in Kashmir, Pakistan is now encouraging its retired troops to engage in terrorism and commit strikes on Indian soil.
"Another trend is using US-made M-4 carbines, which the US abandoned when it departed Afghanistan. This suggests that terrorists have gained access to the weapons left behind by the United States," a source claimed.
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