Credible information gathered by Indian intelligence agencies has revealed that the Pakistan Army’s elite commando unit, Special Services Group (SSG), has been running a fully operational training camp in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, for operatives of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
It is learnt that militants are being trained by SSG commandos to attack Indian security outposts in the high mountainous terrain along the Line of Control and the international border.
It is suspected that militants trained at the SSG camp along with Pakistan Army regulars were involved in the attacks on Indian Army soldiers both in the Poonch and Mendhar sectors. The SSG has units specialising in high-altitude warfare and it is believed these commandos are training the LeT and Jaish militants.
A detailed analysis of the two incidents, in Mendhar and Poonch, by the security agencies here shows remarkable similarities, confirming that possibly the same group was involved in both. Both the home ministry and the national security adviser have been informed about the SSG training centre in PoK.
Security sources said that once trained, the militants help the Pakistan Army along the LoC to carry out recce and attacks on Indian security pickets. “This strategy suits the Pakistani security establishment since if some militants get killed or captured alive in an operation, they can always say the Pakistan government is not involved and the incident was carried out by non-state actors,” a senior home ministry official said.
Indian intelligence agencies fear a further spurt in attacks on the security forces as a section of Pakistan’s ISI is determined to go ahead with its “K-plan”, that is aimed at fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley, particularly after the recent change of government in Pakistan.
For this the Pakistan Army will go out of its way to stir up further trouble along the LoC, and push more militants into Kashmir from across the border. It is suspected at least 300 hardcore militants trained at the SSG’s high-altitude training centre are now working in close coordination with the Pakistan Army along the border.
The Army has put all unit commanders deployed along the LoC on high alert, directing them to follow all laid-down standard operating procedures for patrolling in the region. In both the Mendhar and Poonch attacks, security officials said, there were certain lapses on the part of the Indian troops, for which senior supervising officers have been pulled up so that there is no repeat in future.