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Islamabad asked terrorists to mass in PoK

A K Dhar in Kabul

Terrorists belonging to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed, who were captured in Afghanistan, claimed they had been directed by their "controllers" in Islamabad to sneak into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for "new operations".

Members of a group of 30 Pakistani terrorists, who were nabbed by the Eastern Alliance forces, said in Kabul that they were among 400 men directed by Islamabad to mass in Palandri in PoK.

Before being captured they had fought alongside Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda fighters.

Jamil Ibrahim, who hails from Bhawalpur in Sindh, said prior to October 2001 there were about seven thousand Pakistani fighters, including some army regulars, bolstering the Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

He also said he was operating in the Kashmir valley for the past six years.

"Suddenly, we got instructions to withdraw towards the Pakistan border. We regrouped around Kabul, Jalalabad and Khost regions, where over the years we had set up specialised camps," Ibrahim said.

Ahmed Shah, who claimed to be another veteran fighting in Kashmir, said around a fortnight ago they got directions to move into PoK.

"We were crossing Springhar mountains to move across the North Western Frontier Province into PoK when we were caught between the Arab fighters of Osama and the US forces," he said.

While a large batch of Arabs and Chechens had managed to sneak into Pakistan, the anti-Taliban forces had captured his small group, he added.

PTI

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