Attack on Pathankot airbase was carried out by Pakistani militants: JeM operative

Delhi: Even as India and Pakistan on Thursday ensured that the Pathankot terror attack does not derail their engagement by mutually agreeing to a short deferment of Foreign Secretary-level talks, a report said that an operative of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had said that Pakistan-based jihadi elements would continue to attack India.

JeM operative Saifullah Khalid told Hindustan Times that attacks would continue despite Islamabad’s crackdown on terror groups.

The operative was quoted by the Daily as saying - "(Let me tell you whether) they (Pathankot attackers) belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Al Rahmat or not, (but) they were definitely mujahideen. We have taken this action and we will continue to do so till Kashmir is freed and Indian Muslims get their legitimate rights."

He reportedly talked to the Daily on Saturday over the phone from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

Khalid supposedly also said - “We will keep fighting for Kashmir’s freedom. We have to fight in all conditions… for the demolition of Babri masjid. We will keep fighting to take revenge for Gujarat’s Muslims. Our fight … we continue.”

The report said that when asked if the Pathankot attack was carried out by his outfit, he evaded the question but accepted that Pakistani terrorists were involved.

“We accept that the Pathankot attack was carried out by mujahideen for Kashmir,” he was quoted as saying.

Khalid is said to be now associated with Al Rahmat and was from the initial batches of Pakistani militants to fight in Jammu and Kashmir.

The report said that he was caught and repatriated to Pakistan in 2007.

This was after he completed his prison term of 14 years in jails in Jammu and Jodhpur.

The Daily further quoted the operative as saying -"We have to fight this war for Kashmir’s freedom. We will continue with our jihad because this is god’s wish."

The militant also reportedly revealed that terror training camps in Balakot was being held by JeM.

It is a town in Mansehra district of Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“We don’t have training camp in Bahawalpur. We hold congregations there. We keep shifting our training camps. Till two days back, our markaz (centre) was in Balakot. Now it may be elsewhere” - he further told the Daily.

The report said that Khalid’s phone number (+92 312 ***3020) was found on an online pamphlet of Al Rahmat, asking for donations for charity.