Foreign militants train for anti-India Jihad in PoK: Report

After a lull, several militant outfits have increased their activities in and around Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, and pro-Jihad slogans can be seen on the walls of the city, said the report.

A 25-year-old engineering student from Lahore, fresh from a training stint in one of camps, told BBC from Muzzaffarabad, that "a large number of youths from Pakistani universities and abroad are undergoing training in PoK under the supervision of a militant group to wage jihad against India."

The student, who identified himself as a Kashmiri, said he received training for two months in PoK after finishing his engineering course this year.

"Nearly 20 per cent youths in the training camps are from Kashmir and 10 per cent are from other countries...Majority of those receiving training are from Pakistan's Punjab province," he claimed.

He also said that many other students from his university have joined the militant training programme run by a tanzeem (group) located near Lahore, an apparent reference to Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is headquartered at Murdike on the outskirts of the city. He said a decision to send them to Kashmir will be taken by the Tanzeem's Amir.

"We could be sent to Kashmir or we could be stationed in Pakistan itself for propagating Islam," he said in response to a question.

He claimed that his family approved of his association with the jihadi group. But when contacted by the reporter, his mother said, "My son sought my permission for propagating Islam which I gave him. But I was not aware that he associated himself with the jihadi group".

"After returning home, he told me that he has received militant training and wants to join jihad. I was disappointed and I told him you cannot go to Kashmir to fight till I'm alive," she said.

The claims made by the student contradict the statement by Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who had recently denied reports about the existence of militant camps in PoK.