M A I N   N E W S

2 escape from PoK training camp, reach Wagah
Tribune Reporters

Khasa (Amritsar), September 14
Even as Pakistan continues to deny the existence of terrorist camps in occupied Kashmir (PoK) two Kashmiri youths who escaped from one such camp in Muzaffarabad in the PoK have alleged that more than 250 Kashmiri youths are being trained to continue jehad in the valley. The assertion of these youths has once again brought into focus Pakistan’s hand in abetting cross-border terrorism vindicating India’s stand on the existence of such camps.

The youths — Arshad Ahmad Mir (18) from Rainawari in Srinagar and Mukhtiar Ahmad Sofi (25) from Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir — were saved by a Border Security Force party near the Rorawala observation post close to Wagah while they were trying to sneak into India yesterday afternoon. They were being chased by the Pakistani troops manning the international border.

Relieved but tense after reaching their homeland, the youths gave details of the training camps in the PoK. Mukhtiar Ahmad told newsmen at the BSF quarters here today that the Kashmiri youths were being forced by the Pakistani officers running these camps to participate in jehad against India.

If they resisted, the Pakistani officers used to brutally assault them. The youths were indoctrined to become Islamic fundamentalists to take on “anti-islamic forces”.

The majority of these youths had been kidnapped from various parts of Kashmir for training to become hardcore terrorists. More than half the youths being trained in the Muzaffarabad camp were such Kashmiris, while the rest were Pakistanis and mercenaries from Sudan and Afghanistan.

Arshad and Mukhtiar were kidnapped by Hizbul-Mujahideen from near the Gulmarg jungle where they had gone for a picnic on August 19 last month. They were blindfolded and make to walk for more than eight days to reach the training camp in Mzaffarabad.

They left the camp on the pretext of needing treatment for their injuries sustained during the training and reached Lahore by bus on September 13. From there they reached the village of Wagah and tried crossing over to India by hoodwinking the Pakistani Rangers.

These youths were presented before the media by the BSF officers after interrogation earlier the BSF had verified their antecedents.

The officiating DIG, BSF, Mr Darbara Singh said their rescue from near Border Observation Post 104 had taken the Pakistani security guards by surprise. The Pakistani Rangers at the JCP had requested a flag meeting for the handing back of two “Pakistan nationals” who had crossed the border.

When asked, they were unable to provide the BSF with any information on the youths. Later, the youths were handed over to the Punjab Police for interrogation. The Jammu and Kashmir police has since been asked to take them back to their families.