After losing men in surgical strikes, rattled Lashkar chief plans march towards border

NEW DELHI: When the reports of surgical attacks along LoC first came in, the chief of banned militant group Lashkar e Taiba, Hafiz Saeed was one of the first to issue a denial. Later reports and intercepts of radio communication suggested that it was the Lashkar who was the biggest loser as most of the terrorists killed during the attacks belonged to LeT. ABP news has learnt that the terror chief has planned a march towards India-Pakistan border in the end of this month. The route of this march has been chosen very carefully by the Lashkar chief in order to avoid locations affected by surgical strikes. The end point of this march is Chakothi which faces Uri from across the border. Uri was recently attacked by terrorists where several soldiers of Indian army were martyred. Biggest Loser: Hafiz Saeed It’s not just the loss of men which has rattled the chief of LeT and JuD, but the post strikes reaction which has put Saeed in a fix. As per inputs, since past few years, Lashkar was facing tough to recruit young men from Pakistan occupied Kashmir and had to rely mostly on recruits from mainland Pakistan. These recruits were mostly from Punjab and Sindh regions. Once caught or killed during an operation in India, it was easy for Indian authorities to prove their affiliation with Pakistan as they were Pakistani citizens. Such incidents caused embarrassments to the Pakistani government and Saeed was told to devise a new strategy in order to recruit youngsters of Kashmiri origin. The latest inputs suggest that Saeed was successful in recruiting a group of youngsters from several villages of PoK this time and they were given intensive training at the LeT camps and it was the same high value asset of Lashkar which was destroyed at Dhudniyal launch pad during the surgical strikes carried by India.   Project Qurbaani It was not easy for LeT to recruit terrorists from PoK but Saeed saw an opportunity during recent protests and violence in the Indian side of Kashmir valley. Inputs suggest that a series of events where organized across several villages in PoK where provocative pictures, videos and documentaries where screened for group of youngsters. A call was given by the terror chief to the youngsters to join LeT’s ‘Project Qurbani’ in the month of August. The villagers who joined the project were given a month intensive training at terror camps in PoK, before they were assembled at the launch pads near LoC. These were mostly Kashmiri youth from PoK and their Kashmiri identity in the event of an operation in India was crucial for Pakistan, as it would have proved the Pakistani government’s narrative of insurgency in India. The surgical strikes destroyed the plans of Pakistan playing the Kashmir card using terrorism as a front of state policy.   Anger Against Hafiz Saeed in PoK Villages Soon after Pakistan took an official position of denying the surgical attacks carried out by India, Hafiz Saeed also played along and disowned his own men who were recruited by Saeed himself. Further, the local villagers were asked not to open their mouth about the killed mujahidin. Some of the villager who came to ask about their missing family members where not even entertained. Some villagers who were searching for their family members wanted a public funeral were also not heeded. Being disowned by the same groups who came to recruit two months back the local villagers now feel betrayed and local youth have also been not showing interests in programs being run by these groups. According to inputs the attendance of local Kashmiris has dropped significantly and their enthusiasm post-surgical strikes is reduced to minimum. March to LoC Post-surgical strikes a defeated, demented and destroyed Hafiz Saeed is now in damage control mode. ABP news has learnt that the terror chief has planned a march towards India-Pakistan border in the end of this month. The route of this march has been chosen very carefully by the Lashkar chief. The march would start from Muzaffarabad in PoK and will continue till Chakothi near border. He will use this march to cover the villages in PoK and show his strength however this march will not cover areas like Dhudniyal which were hit by surgical strikes. “This march is like a face saver for Hafiz Saeed” said a local journalist. The end point of this march is also significant; Chakothi is last border village and faces Uri from across the border. Saeed’s march will end facing Uri which was attacked by terrorists recently. Amid talks in parliament about curbing the non-state actors, it is yet to be seen if Pakistani government can gather strength to interfere in Saeed’s march scheduled on 27^thOctober.