New Delhi, Feb 9 : After ties with the Afghan Taliban soured, Pakistan has been hunting for disgruntled elements and recruiting them into the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Indian agencies have learnt that the ISI has been scouting for disgruntled elements from the Afghan Taliban and other breakaway factions. The idea is to recruit such persons and take them into the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

An official said that the strategy was to get these persons to infiltrate India directly from Afghanistan. Moreover, the ISI also seeks to break the Afghan Taliban, with which it is having immense problems currently. The new strategy has been devised because the terrorists waiting at the launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are finding it impossible to infiltrate into India. Security is at an all-time high following the Pahalgam attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor.

Another official said that this strategy has been used in the past. Many who had fought against the Soviet forces in the 1980s were directed into Kashmir after the end of fighting. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, scores of Afghan fighters were sent to Kashmir to wage a battle against India.

According to Intelligence agencies, this time the push would be much harder as the desperation is growing. There are hardly 50 terrorists of Pakistani origin who remain in Kashmir. This is not a good enough number to carry out a sustained attack. Moreover, the security forces have launched a massive operation aimed at hunting down the remaining terrorists.

The security forces have been able to achieve a lot of success, and the number of terrorists of Pakistani origin has fallen to 50 from the 600 there were in 2019. These developments have set the alarm bells ringing within the ISI circles. Both the ISI and Pakistan Army are under immense pressure from outfits such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba over infiltrations. They are asking why the army is unable to facilitate the infiltrations. They too realise that if they want to survive, they have to battle harder in Kashmir and with the infiltration falling to nearly nil, they will not be able to achieve their goal.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that there are currently at least 1,500 terrorists waiting at the launchpads in PoK. Every attempt to infiltrate that has been made since the Indian armed forces carried out Operation Sindoor has failed. Among the 50 terrorists who remain in Jammu and Kashmir, it has been learnt that many of them had fought in Afghanistan against the NATO forces. Many veterans from Afghanistan have been recruited into the Jaish-e-Mohammed, and they have been sent into the Valley, an official said.

During the recent encounter that led to the elimination of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, it was found that two of them had fought in Afghanistan before being recruited into the outfit and then sent into Kashmir. The ISI is also looking to drive a wedge within the Afghan Taliban in a bid to make it weaker. Pakistan has not been able to get around with the Taliban, and this has led to a lot of frustration. Both sides are constantly in battle with each other, and it is the Pakistan security forces who have been facing losses.

Getting the Taliban on board or weakening it is a major priority for Pakistan at this moment. On one hand, it wants to stop the fighting, and on the other, there is the Chinese pressure, another official said.

The Chinese are insistent that Afghanistan is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project 2.0. Cash-strapped Pakistan is desperate for this project to take place. The Chinese have told the Pakistanis to bring the Afghan Taliban on board at any cost if the project has to go through. This has led to immense pressure in Islamabad, and hence it feels the need to weaken the Taliban and then get them on board, the official added.

/IANS