The terror outfits have started using cyber and mobile applications mainly to avoid exposure of sleeper cells built by the ISI

Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan, and terror outfits based in the South Asian country have started recruiting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir through cyber and mobile applications.

Technical surveillance has revealed that Pakistan is relying on the Internet to recruit terrorists in order to destabilize the region, a report in India Today quoted senior officials saying.

The surveillance has also revealed that Pak terror outfits are using fake videos of alleged atrocities by security forces in an attempt to emotionally encourage Kashmiri youths to join their organizations. As expected, the ISI is providing these outfits with cyber support so that they could easily recruit the young people.

According to the report, the recent crackdown on terrorists by the Indian security forces has prompted the Pakistani terrorist organizations to change their modus operandi.

In 2020, the Indian security forces and intelligence agencies successfully busted more than 12 terror modules, apart from detaining over 40 sympathizers recruited by the Pakistani outfits through cyber and mobile applications.

The Indian forces also gunned down several militants and captured many alive while conducting operations in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, the India Today report notes.

According to officials, the terror outfits have started using cyber and mobile applications mainly to avoid exposure of sleeper cells built by the ISI in the Kashmir valley.

Tawar Waghey and Amir Ahmed Mir, two terrorists who surrendered before the Indian Army in December, informed the security forces about the recruitment process of terror modules in J&K, the report said.

During interrogation, the two terrorists admitted that they had first contacted a Pakistan-based handler via Facebook. Later, their handler handed them over to recruiters, code-named Mohammed Abbas Sheikh and Khalid. Waghey and Mir further revealed that they had received online training, using public platforms, like YouTube.

According to the two detainees, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba's shadow outfit, the Resistance Front (TRF), have recruited several terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. These terrorists receive various orders and religious teachings from Pakistan-based Burhan Hamza, the India Today report points out.

One of them was Amir Siraj (22), a final year graduation student from Khawaja Gilgat in Sopore. Siraj, who was recruited online, was killed by the Indian security forces in north Kashmir during an encounter in December.

Read the full report in India Today