“Yes, that (IS joining hands with LeT to launch attacks in India) can be a possibility as the motive of the terrorists is to spread their propaganda. They want their name and for that, they can do anything. And if they get successful, they can take advantage of it by using any name. Yes it is a possibility,” said General Officer Commanding of the 16 corps of the Army Lt Gen RR Nimbhorkar.
He was replying to a question if IS can join hands with other terrorists outfits like LeT to launch Paris-type attacks in India.
Lt Gen Nimbhorkar said there are around 700 active militants in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). When asked about the number of terrorist training camps active across the Line of Control in POK, he said from the inputs that captured terrorist Naved has given, there are around 37 such camps in the region.
“See, there are a number of launching pads and we are all aware of it as it is in the open domain. So, therefore, I will not exactly say as to how many are there,” he said.
The Army commander said: “There are sufficient number of launching pads and if you calculate that way...take the statement which is given by the terrorist captured in the Udhampur attack so you can easily co-relate what he said and calculate... So to my mind in the entire PoK, there may be 600-700 terrorists.”
He said of the 700 militants in PoK, half of them are ready and waiting for a chance to infiltrate into India.
The Army commander said Naved had revealed that 35-37 terrorist camps were active in the PoK region. “A total of 35 to 37 camps are there and if in every camp there are 20-30 (terrorists), then the total figure reaches to 600-700 and of them, half are ready to be launched,” he said.
Lt Gen Nimbhorkar said the militants were looking for ways to infiltrate. “We cannot say this with certainty whether the number has increased or decreased. In my opinion, it is their job to find ways and means to infiltrate and whenever they get a chance they do it and our job is to stop them and if one of them slips in, our job is to clear them. It is an ongoing game,” he said.
Talking about radicalisation of Kashmiri men and their inclination towards the IS ideology, he said if an organisation wants to grow, it is bound to recruit people into its folds. “Right now, these are speculation and we cannot say anything about it. If an organisation wants to grow, they will definitely go for recruitment. It is their job and it is to be seen in how many areas they get success. It depends on their propaganda,” he added.
He said: “I cannot say this with certainty if they are present. We have seen there have been scattered incidents and IS flags have been raised (in the past) in Srinagar. We cannot say with certainty about their influence having increased.”
He said the need of the hour was to remain alert and be ready to face any eventuality. “Right now, we have to conduct a detailed analysis, but at the end, it is our job that we have to be ready all the time. We have to remain alert. Whatever the name be – IS, LeT, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, etc – if they attack, the result would be the same. We have to guard against that result and I want to assure you that we are always ready,” he said.
When asked about the presence of IS in terrorist training camps in PoK, Lt Gen Nimbhorkar said nothing can be said with certainty about the presence of IS in PoK. On reports about Kashmiri men being radicalised by the use of Internet and that IS was trying to spread its ideology in the Valley through social media, the officer said it has become a global problem. “The management of the Internet is a worldwide problem. It is a power that can be used by anyone, who is not empowered by other means. They can use this media to their advantage. So how to fight it is a different issue altogether and that has to be dealt with,” he said.
“This stance of yours that the IS is using the (social) media is correct and I have read it on the net that they are using it to their advantage. But I am quite certain that people at the helm of the affairs are aware of this and will take necessary measures to counter it in a manner which is legal and firm,” he said.
He said if militants would get a chance they would try to target civilian areas as they have done in the past, but the methodology adopted by the Army was helping prevent such attempts.