Security forces wary over video of Jaish, Hizb and Lashkar men together

Citing the example of south Kashmir, the official said “the HM earlier operated in areas such as south Anantnag, Tral and the southern belt of Shopian, while Lashkar militants operated in Kulgam, Kakapora and east Pulwama. The JeM was limited to Kamala forest, west of Shopian. These divisions no longer exist.”

Official estimates suggest there are around 80 HM militants in south Kashmir, most of them local youths who joined militancy in the past two years. The number of LeT militants is estimated at 20 while JeM has only 10-12 militants in south Kashmir.

Late last year, a photograph had surfaced on social media which featured local leaders of the three groups: Zakir Moosa of the HM, Abu Dujana of the LeT and Abdullah Bhai of the JeM.

Security forces believe this coming together of the groups has happened on orders of the United Jehad Council in PoK.

“By coordinating their operations, these militants are able to build more pressure on security forces. Now we know that if we get a militant of HM in a particular area, we may have another militant of LeT there. This was not the case earlier. By building more pressure on us, they hope to get greater support from the people,” the official explained.

The security forces were earlier hamstrung by the ineffectiveness of their intelligence setup, following the public unrest in July last year. But officials said the setup has now been re-established.