JeM resolved to continue fighting ‘holy war’ against India in 2017 conference, says intelligence report

New Delhi: Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which was responsible for the killing of 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, had resolved in a conference over a year ago that its “Ghazwa-e-Hind” (Holy War Against India) will continue irrespective of India-Pakistan ties, according to an intelligence report. Citing the report, officials said the conference organised in Okara district in Pakistan on 27 November, 2017 saw more than 2,000 participants showering praise on organisational activities of JeM and the role played by its chief Masood Azhar, the mastermind of the 14 February Pulwama strike in Jammu and Kashmir, among other terror attacks in India. [caption id=“attachment_6174821” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] According to the intelligence report prepared on the basis of inputs from across the border, JeM resolved at the conference to continue what it called its ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’. The conference was addressed by JeM leaders Abdul Rauf Asghar, Md Maqsood and Abdul Malik Tahir. Asghar said the India-Pakistan friendship and bilateral trade would not end ‘jihad’ as there were many youths ready to sacrifice, the report said. It further said that another six-day meeting, held in February 2018, saw the JeM’s ‘Shoba-e-Taaruf’ (Department of Introduction) conducting 13 interaction sessions in which 700 people, including 65 ‘Ulemas’ (religious scholars), participated. The JeM terrorists had carried out a suicide attack on 10 February, 2018 on Indian Army’s Sunjwan camp in Jammu and Kashmir in which five Army officers were killed and many more were injured. Five JeM terrorists took part in the attack in which three were killed and two escaped. The report said it was described by the JeM as a pre-planned operation carried out on the Sunjwan Camp by JeM as part of “revenge” operations launched by the ‘Afzal Guru Shaheed Squad’ in Kashmir. The intelligence report also mentioned a four-day visit to Sialkot district in March 2018 of JeM’s ‘Shoba-e-Taaruf’ delegation, comprising Mujahid Abbas, Rashid Mushtaq and Abid Mehmood, during which it organised 17 sessions attended by 1,500 people, including 50 ‘Ulemas’. The delegation recruited 22 people for training course and 91 for ‘Daura-e-Tafseer’ (Training on Jihad and Quran). The participants also promised to take part in religious events organised by the JeM and the ‘Ulemas’ expressed satisfaction over the schedule for training prepared by JeM chief Masood Azhar. They also appreciated religious services rendered by Masood Azhar and prayed for JeM ‘Mujahideen’. The delegation held five separate sessions with JeM activists, which were attended by 28 ‘Ulema’ and activists, the report said.