At least seven terror launch pads have been set up on the Pakistani side of Kashmir along the Line of Control (LoC), which exists as a de-facto boundary bifurcating India and Pakistan, intelligence sources are cited as saying.
The terrorists, including Afghan and Pashtun mercenaries, are attempting to infiltrate Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, most of them through northern Kashmir’s Gurez sector, the sources added.
The development comes as the Paris-based terrorism finance watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is meeting this week in Bangkok. It is set to review Islamabad’s progress in meeting its anti-terror commitments.
It is to make a final decision in October on whether or not to place Pakistan on the global blacklist, which could economically cripple Islamabad in terms of securing funding from abroad.
The daily claimed to be in possession of documents that suggest around 80 terrorists are camping near the Gurez sector, 60 in Machhal, 50 in Karnah, 40 in Keran, 20 in Uri, 15 in Naugam, and 10 in Rampur.
Pakistan has allegedly been pushing foreign mercenaries into Indian-governed Kashmir since the early 1990s. India has reportedly time and again neutralised these infiltrations through aggressive counter-terror operations.
After New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on 5 August, Islamabad upped its Kashmir-centred rhetoric at all forums available to it, both at home and abroad. It has also suspended diplomatic and trade engagements with India.
New Delhi says the decision to revoke the region's special status is an internal matter.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
