Herald report on terrorist camps
Back to camp
By Zulfiqar Ali
An hour's drive north-west of Mansehra, opposite a beautiful village nestled on the slopes of a ridge, a jeep track branches off from the road and snakes up a hill that is home to the oldest militant training camp in the region.
"Until 2001, thousands of fighters trained here for operations in Kashmir and Afghanistan," says our guide, requesting that his name and that of his organisation be withheld. After the September 11, 2001, attacks in America, though, the militants' activities dwindled. Last year, the camp was abandoned following an unequivocal warning from the government. 'But now we can start again,' he says. According to a top manager of the training camp in Mansehra, all the major militant organisations, including Hizbul Mujahideen, al-Badr Mujahideen, Harkatul Mujahideen and others, began regrouping in April this year by renovating training facilities that were deserted last year.
Ironically, this regrouping comes amid the high-profile composite dialogue with India and when institutional arrangements for non-interference in Afghanistan have been put in place. Previously, these two countries have been the target of Islamic militancy. The top Indian leadership has so far not reacted strongly to reports of militant infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, probably because it has not exceeded the levels of previous years. But Islamabad has recently been under fire from Kabul over its alleged support for the Taliban insurgency that has claimed a record number of civilian, Afghan and American lives this year.
URL: http://www.dawn.com/herald/main.htm#1
By Zulfiqar Ali
An hour's drive north-west of Mansehra, opposite a beautiful village nestled on the slopes of a ridge, a jeep track branches off from the road and snakes up a hill that is home to the oldest militant training camp in the region.
"Until 2001, thousands of fighters trained here for operations in Kashmir and Afghanistan," says our guide, requesting that his name and that of his organisation be withheld. After the September 11, 2001, attacks in America, though, the militants' activities dwindled. Last year, the camp was abandoned following an unequivocal warning from the government. 'But now we can start again,' he says. According to a top manager of the training camp in Mansehra, all the major militant organisations, including Hizbul Mujahideen, al-Badr Mujahideen, Harkatul Mujahideen and others, began regrouping in April this year by renovating training facilities that were deserted last year.
Ironically, this regrouping comes amid the high-profile composite dialogue with India and when institutional arrangements for non-interference in Afghanistan have been put in place. Previously, these two countries have been the target of Islamic militancy. The top Indian leadership has so far not reacted strongly to reports of militant infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, probably because it has not exceeded the levels of previous years. But Islamabad has recently been under fire from Kabul over its alleged support for the Taliban insurgency that has claimed a record number of civilian, Afghan and American lives this year.
URL: http://www.dawn.com/herald/main.htm#1
posted by India News Watch at 8:26 AM
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