Pakistan's political, military brass ordered hit at Pahalgam: Officials
NEW DELHI: The April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed the lives of 26 civilians was a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan's
ISI
and terror group
Lashkar-e-Taiba
on the directions of the country's political and military brass and executed exclusively by
Pakistani terrorists
, according to sources in the security establishment.
In what sources described as an LeT-ISI project akin to the 26/11 Mumbai attack, ISI gave specific directions to Pakistan-based Lashkar commander Sajid Jutt to deploy only foreign terrorists operating in J&K. To ensure secrecy, no Kashmiri terrorist was taken on board. He was directed to ensure minimal local involvement on a "need-to-know" basis.
The attack was led by Sulaiman, a suspected former Pakistani special forces commando who had participated in training at LeT's Muridke hub in Pakistan's Punjab before crossing the LoC into the Jammu region in 2022.
Two other Pakistanis were also in the hit squad.
Satellite phone analysis has revealed that Sulaiman's location on April 15 was in Tral forest, indicating he was in the vicinity of the attack site at Baisaran for almost a week before the incident.
Sulaiman was also involved in the April 2023 attack on an Army truck in Poonch in which five soldiers were killed. However, he laid low for the next two years. Sources did not reveal the identities of the two other Pakistani terrorists.
Although J&K Police had suspected the role of Pakistani terrorists Hashim Musa and Ali Bhai, probe has only confirmed Sulaiman's role till now. There is no corroboration of the role of local terrorist Adil Hussain Thoker as a facilitator, either.
Even the two locals arrested by NIA last month - Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, both from Pahalgam - are believed to have had a limited role, having provided the Pakistani terrorists food, shelter and other logistics in return for a few thousand rupees. They have also denied any knowledge of the terrorists' plan to hit tourists in Baisaran.
There are currently about 68 foreign terrorists and three local terrorists active in the Valley.
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