The notification makes no bones about the operatives’ involvement in the Nagrota and Sunjwan attacks, as well as the means they have at their disposal to see operations through.
New designations target cross-border operations
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, this is a group of handlers, launch commanders, fundraisers and the like, all part of a web that stretches across Pakistan and PoK. For some time, investigative bodies have been on the trail of these nodes for what is said to be their reliance on social media, encryption and drones to maintain a foothold in J-K.
Those being called out by officials are ones with ties to the planning and the ground work, in an ecosystem that covers everything from training to moving arms. The focus here is on the pipelines for infiltration and the backing of foreign terrorists making their way into India.
Links alleged to Nagrota and Sunjwan attacks
A number of the new designations have to do with two of the more prominent cases in J-K. The paper says three were in on the 2016 hit on the Army camp at Nagrota, while two are connected to the 2018 one at the Sunjwan Military Station.
Then there is Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan, 52, or Abu Saad, who is put forward as a JeM launching commander in J-K and a prime mover in the November 29, 2016, Nagrota affair. The 56-year-old Hafiz Abdul Shakoor and 47-year-old Abdullah Jehadi are also in the same category for Nagrota.
When it comes to Sunjwan, the Centre has made a connection between Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, 41 (aka Mufti Masood Ilyas) and the April 22, 2022, attack on security in Jammu. You will also find 38-year-old Mohammad Mussadiq, who goes by Doctor or Hamza, listed as a key JeM handler with a hand in the Sunjwan operation.
Associates of Hafiz Saeed among those named
Three have been put in the spotlight for being in the orbit of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s founder, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. The ministry has identified 52-year-old Abdul Rauf, 51-year-old Hafiz Khalid Waleed and Rana Iftikhar, 54, as the kind of people you would expect to be at the centre of planning, coordination and riling up young men for terror work.
Abdul Rauf is of LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa and takes his orders straight from Saeed. As for Hafiz Khalid Waleed, he is under Saeed’s wing and has been behind a few incidents. Rana Iftikhar, for his part, is a close of Saeed and a go-between for anti-Jihadi outfits.
The file also has some of the heads of allied networks. There is 46-year-old Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki, the Amir of a few JeM factions and the one who puts together the activities. And 57-year-old Maulana Saifullah Khalid, who is no stranger to the various wings of Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
Drone pipelines and digital recruitment
It is not just the planners; the list is also about the support side of things. Nazir Ahmed Gujjar, 38, is said to have been the one to get arms and ammo in via drones. Waseem Noor Jat, 44, is in the mix for the delivery of the same.
There is the online element as well. The ministry has 40-year-old Mohammed Shaheed Faisal down as having links to the modules of LeT, Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Allegations put forward in the notification are that he makes his moves on social media to bring in new members, has set up for weapons training in Pakistan, and is behind the funding. He is also said to be instructing his people in data encryption and how to put on a false face to stay one step ahead of the authorities.
Mussadiq, for instance, is said to have been in charge of a group of JeM cyber operatives, using the likes of social media to make headway with young recruits. The document also puts it to him that he has been moving arms and ammunition over the border by way of drones.
Facilitators, funders, and those who run the show
The Centre has put a number of names to the logistical and financial work that makes an infiltration or an attack possible. There is 27-year-old Abid Quyoom Lone, for example, who the notification says was at the centre of planning and co-ordinating terrorist work, as well as putting together the money and the means to do it.
Then there is 51-year-old Mohammad Yaqoob, accused of being a source of logistics and finance for terrorists. And 52-year-old Ashfaq Ahmad is on the list for offering technical help and raising funds with a view to furthering such activities.
The ministry has also called out 33-year-old Firdous Ahmad Bhat for making sure foreign terrorists can cross the border without issue. 42-year-old Ghulam Fareed is in for his part in unlawful acts and for the provision of arms, while 36-year-old Haroon Rashid Ganai is said to have been on the ground recruiting for the cause.
Handlers and fronts on the other side of the line
You will find a variety of roles in the notification, some of them in organisations and some in front groups. 27-year-old Bilal Ahmad Mir is named as a member of both LeT and The Resistance Front, and as a party to a conspiracy to stage terrorist acts from across the border.
Among the others are 56-year-old Molana Yousaf Taibi, with alleged ties to different wings of LeT or Jamaat-ud-Dawa, as well as 27-year-old Owais Farooz and 53-year-old Qari Yaqub Sheikh.
Some of the JeM-connected men in PoJK are described as launch commanders, the ones who see to it that cadres are pushed over the LoC. The ministry’s position is that they are the ones who put the pieces in place for a strike in J-K, from recruitment to movement.
What the Centre is saying about J-K
This is being presented as a move to take down the structures that allow terrorism to thrive in the region. In the eyes of the Centre, the 23 people on this list cover the whole spectrum: the ideologues, the handlers, the ones who put up the money and the ones who fly the drones.
Security agencies are on the trail of networks that are using encrypted lines and social media to keep the militancy going. The use of drones for armaments and the online tools for vetting and training new blood are all part of what is being tracked.
To sum up the salient points of the notification:
– 23 from Pakistan are now classed as terrorists
– Three are close to Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
– Some are linked to the Nagrota 2016 and Sunjwan 2018 incidents
– One has a connection to the Sunjwan attack of April 22, 2022
– Drones and secure platforms are seen as the enablers
Who is who
Rather than a straight list, the ministry has drawn up a picture of how these people operate. You have your launch commanders in the person of Mufti Muhammad Asghar Khan and Hafiz Abdul Shakoor; the kind of men like Mohammad Mussadiq and Nazir Ahmed Gujjar who handle infiltration and drones; and the recruiters like Haroon Rashid Ganai.
On the money and logistics side are Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Yaqoob and Ashfaq Ahmad. For the ideological and organisational weight, there is Hafiz Khalid Waleed, Rana Iftikhar, Maulana Imdad Ullah Makki and Maulana Saifullah Khalid.
Masood Ilyas Kashmiri is another operative on the list, with a hand in recruitment and training and a link to the 2022 Sunjwan affair. Men like Firdous Ahmad Bhat and Ghulam Fareed are there for the supply and movement they make possible.
In one fell swoop, the Centre has made a case for a networked threat in J-K. What the ministries are after now is to put a stop to the recruitment, the drone runs, and the financial and technical underpinnings of the operation.
