In a shocking development, Pakistan has doubled the number of terrorists waiting to infiltrate into Kashmir from its 14 operational launch pads, reports Hindustan Times.

The report quotes a senior government official as saying, “Our information is that there are about 450 terrorists affiliated to different Pakistan -backed terrorist groups at these launch pads.”

Out of the 450 terrorist, states the report, 244 are from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, 129 from the Jaish-e-Mohammed, 60 from the Hizbul Mujahideen while the rest are from fringe groups such as Al Badr.

The new estimate is based upon the intelligence reports received by national security agencies based in Delhi which point that in the last week or so Pakistan has doubled the presence of terrorists at the launch pads.

The intelligence received further states that there are 16 terror camps, out of which 11 are functioning in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), two in Punjab, Pakistan and three in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) region. Additionally, 7 out the 11 terror camps from PoK are said to be hybrid camps, that is, the trainees in the camp include recruits of different terrorists groups.

A counter-terror official reportedly said, “The existence of such mixed terror camps is evidence that there is one force that oversees them; the Pakistani deep state.”

It should be noted that the increased presence is perceived to be an attempt by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence to incite street protest, violence and other such activities in Kashmir.

The attempts have increased to enhance strength of terrorists in Kashmir depleted due to recent setbacks especially after the abrogation of Article 370.

Another senior Indian general said, “Pakistan Army has no option but to continue with jihad in Kashmir else the public will start focusing on the poor domestic situation on the economic and Covid-19 response front and start questioning the leadership.”

It should be noted that the development comes at a time when Pakistan itself is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and has reported over 12,700 Covid-19 cases and 268 deaths.

In the past month there have been multiple infiltration attempts and ceasefire violations across Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan.

This led to Army Chief General MM Naravane saying, "While we are busy not only helping our own citizens but the rest of the world too by sending medical teams and exporting medicines. On the other hand, Pakistan is only exporting terror. This doesn't auger well.”