News

Have in the past, and still can carry out ‘operations’ on Indian soil: Salahuddin

Lahore: Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin, admitted in a TV interview to having carried out ‘operations’ on Indian soil.

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen was founded by Muhammad Ahsan Dar in September 1989, and is a Kashmiri anti-India resistance and Islamic militant group. It has been active in the state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The current commander of the group is a Sayeed Salahudeen.

Holding an Islamic and pro-Pakistan ideology, the group is considered to be the largest indigenous militant group in Kashmir. In 1990 Muhammad Ahsan Dar had more than 10,000 armed men under his command.

“Till now our focus was on Indian occupation forces. All the operations that we have done or are underway, we focus only on the installations of these occupational forces,” Salahuddin said in an interview with Geo TV, news channel.

Asserting that Kashmir was his ‘home’, the Hizb chief stated that the Valley was witnessing an uprising since the killing of Burhan Wani.

Further revealing that he has many supporters in India, Salahuddin admitted to purchasing weapons from international markets, adding that he has the capacity to deliver weapons at any place if he is paid for it.

Informing that he carried out many ‘operations’ in India, Salahuddin stated that the international scenario changed after 9/11.

“If we would have taken our operations out of Kashmir at that time, India would get a chance to label Tehreek-e-Kashmir a terrorist organization. We have support and we can target any place in India, at anytime,” he said.

“Department of State has designated Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as (AKA) Syed Salahuddin, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons who have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

As a consequence of this designation, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Salahuddin and all of Salahuddin’s property and interests in property subject to the United States jurisdiction are blocked,” the State Department said in a statement.

Salahuddin is the senior leader of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. In September 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley “into a graveyard for Indian forces.”

Under Salahuddin’s tenure as senior Hizbul leader, the militant outfit has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people.

Meanwhile, defending Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin, outgoing High Commissioner of Pakistan to India, Abdul Basit on Tuesday called out the United States for branding the former a ‘terrorist’.

Speaking to ANI, Basit said that Salahuddin was struggling for right to ‘self-determination of Kashmiris.’

Click to comment
To Top