To launch major seaborne attack, Pak Army plans major distraction in Kashmir: IB

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 21: As the new dispensation took charge in Pakistan, Indian agencies have warned of attacks from Pakistan, especially from the sea. The Intelligence Bureau warning suggests that Pakistan army would look to keep the Indian Army busy in Jammu and Kashmir and the bordering areas, while it launches a sea borne attack.

This is the second time in two months that the agencies have warned of a seaborne attack from Pakistan. In July, the agencies had said that two groups, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba are training to carry out seaborne attacks on India.

With the election process on in Pakistan, there was a bit of a slowdown in terror related activities. The agencies in India warned that after the election process is completed, Pakistan would look to step up the heat on India.

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The alert suggests that the terrorists of both the groups are training hard in a bid to launch an attack on the Indian Navy. The threat looms large in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, an IB officer told OneIndia.

Several intelligence reports available with OneIndia state that the naval wing of these groups is handled by the Musa Company, which is the special services group of the Pakistan Army.

The naval wing of these terrorist groups is not often used by terror groups. It is part of the surprise element, the reports state. Since 2004, it had become mandatory for every Lashkar-e-Tayiba recruit to undergo a certain amount of maritime training. This apart, the terrorists also take part in classes on elementary flying.

As part of the training programme, the first class is held in Thakot and then at Murdike. The training programme comes to a close at Karachi and each of these sessions is conducted by officers of the Musa company.

Officials say that this is a strategic ploy by Pakistan. While it would look to keep the Indian agencies busy on land, it would look to stage an attack along the 7,500 kilometre coastline. The attack, the IB warns would be specifically on the Indian Navy. They would look to target strategic assets of the Navy such as INS Chakra and the INS Vikramaditya.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba poses a bigger threat:

In a bid to boost up the maritime capabilities, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the al-Shahbab came together in 2011. The coming together of these two outfits was specifically to spruce up their maritime capabilities.

Investigations conducted have revealed that the pirates from Somalia who are dominant on Indian waters were sponsored by the al-Shahbab group which is linked to the al-Qaeda. It was the ISI that had suggested that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the al-Shahbab come together and carry out strikes.

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The idea was to send out the terrorists along with some of the pirates in a bid to carry out strikes. Since manning all vessels is an impossible task for India alone, it became necessary to seek the cooperation of other nations such as Africa.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba on the other hand entered into several alliances in a bid to spruce up its maritime capabilities. An operative by the name Abu Yakub was tasked with coordinating with the al-Shahbab. A plan hatched back in 2011 indicated that these groups would send out several pirates into the sea in a bid to keep the Indian Navy busy.

On the other hand they would take advantage of the situation and then get their terrorists to launch an attack on the Navy. Post the 26/11 attack, maritime security had been increased. There are over 400 warships which are on guard. In addition to this several more coastal police stations were set up and the fishermen were roped in to provide human intelligence.