Jaish guides’ role in Uri under scanner

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 25

With the Army apprehending two Jaish-e-Mohammad guides from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir near the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri, security agencies are now looking into the possibility of their connection with the Uri attack on September 18, in which 18 soldiers were killed by four Jaish militants.

Sources said security agencies had been questioning the two Jaish guides to know if they had helped the fidayeen in attacking the Army’s brigade headquarters in Uri.

“Joint teams are questioning the duo and trying to establish if they had any role in the Uri attack. The NIA team probing

the Uri attack may

question them,” said the 

sources in the secu-

rity establishment.

Col Rajesh Kalia, defence spokesman in Srinagar, on Saturday said two Jaish guides — Ahasan Khursheed, alias DC, of Khaliana Kalan and Faisal Hussain Awan of Pottha Jahangir, both in PoK — were arrested in a joint operation by the Army and BSF  on Wednesday.

However, the arrest of the duo was not officially disclosed for at least three days. “The duo was recruited two years ago by Jaish-e-Mohammad and were guiding terrorists to infiltrate across the LoC,” he had said. The duo had not been handed over to the police yet.

The sources said details provided by the duo from PoK, who were not carrying any weapon  at the time of arrest near Gawaltha in Uri, close to the LoC, were being examined and cross-checked at various levels by security agencies. Initially, the duo had told interrogators that they crossed the LoC inadvertently.

“During questioning, they told interrogators that they had helped over a dozen militants infiltrate into Kashmir. We are corroborating this claim with various security agencies. We are trying to find out whether they had any local contact here,” the sources said.