Centre bans two offshoots of LeT, JeM amid terror crackdown

The bans come amid repeated assertions by PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the Centre's zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism

Continuing its crackdown on terrorism sponsored from across the border, the Centre banned two proxy organisations of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and declared four individuals terrorists in last four days.

The action against the terror groups and terrorists came amidst the repeated assertions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the central government has adopted a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism.

On January 4, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notification stating that Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger alias Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, a Kashmir-born terrorist who has contacts with al-Qaeda and other global terrorist groups and is engaged in restarting the Islamic State (IS) in India, was declared an individual terrorist.

Aijaz Ahmad, presently based in Afghanistan, is one of the chief recruiters of Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK).

Aijaz Ahmad, who was born in Srinagar in 1974, is a wanted terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir for more than two decades and has started planning terror-related strategies in the Union Territory by building coordination channels between various terrorist groups.

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According to the MHA, Aijaz Ahmad is working towards providing traction to militancy in Kashmir and has started the process of identifying people for inclusion in his Kashmir-based network.

He was appointed the head of Islamic State (IS) recruitment cell for India and had been instrumental in initiating an online India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine.

A day later, on Jan 5, the MHA declared The Resistance Front (TRF) , a proxy of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned organisation.

The MHA said the TRF is recruiting youth through online medium for furtherance of terrorist activities, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorist and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir.

The group came into existence in 2019 as a proxy of the banned LeT, which was involved in numerous terror acts, including 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The TRF is involved in psychological operations on social media platforms for inciting people of Jammu and Kashmir to join terrorist outfits against the Indian government.

The MHA said Sheikh Sajjad Gul is a Commander of the TRF and has already been designated as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967.

A large number of cases have also been registered against the members and associates of the TRF.

On the same night, the MHA designated Mohammed Amin Khubaiab alias Abu Khubaiab, who belongs to Jammu and Kashmir but currently lives in Pakistan, an individual terrorist.

He is acting as launching commander of the LeT and has developed a deep association with the cross-border agencies and is playing a vital role to revive and accelerate terrorist activities of LeT in Jammu.

Mohammed Amin has been involved in coordinating terrorist attacks, supply of arms or weapons and explosives, terror financing in Jammu and Kashmir from across the border.

On January 6, the MHA banned People's Anti-Fascist-Front (PAFF), a proxy outfit of another Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, for its involvement in terror acts in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere.

The MHA said the PAFF has been regularly issuing threats to security forces, political leaders and civilians working in Jammu-and Kashmir from other states.

The PAFF, alongwith other organisations, is involved in conspiring pro-actively physically and in social media to undertake violent terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir and other major cities in India.

The PAFF alongwith other organisations is indulging in radicalisation of impressionable youth for the purpose of recruitment and training in handling guns, ammunitions and explosives.

Through a separate notification on the same night, the MHA designated Arbaz Ahmad Mir, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir but is presently based in Pakistan and is working for banned terror group LeT, an individual terrorist.

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Arbaz Ahmad has been involved in target killings and has emerged as main conspirator in murder of a female teacher, Rajni Bala, in Kulgam in Jammu and Kashmir a few months ago.

He has been involved in coordinating terrorism in Kashmir valley and supporting terrorists by transporting illegal arms or ammunition or explosives from across the border, it said.

On Jan 7, the MHA declared Asif Maqbool Dar, who lives in Saudi Arabia and a leading radical voice involved in influencing Kashmiri youth to take up arms, as an individual terrorist.

The MHA announced he is involved in instigating or provoking the youth of Kashmir Valley for terrorist activities by using social media platforms.

He is associated with banned terror group Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen and is one of the leading radical voices on social media and involved in nefariously influencing Kashmiri youth to take up arms against security forces.

He is an accused in a case investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) relating to conspiracy hatched by the cadres of terrorist organisation to undertake violent terrorist act in Jammu and Kashmir and major cities in India including New Delhi on the direction of handlers based across the border.