In a stark public admission that directly exposes neighboring complicity in cross-border militancy, a top commander of the banned outfit Hizbul Mujahideen has openly acknowledged the pervasive footprint of Pakistani terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Shamsher Khan, the deputy supreme commander of the terror group, was seen in a recently surfaced video clip claiming that countless youths from every corner of Pakistan crossed into the valley, fought, and were subsequently buried there. This blunt acknowledgment adds substantial weight to India's long-standing position regarding state-sponsored cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil.
Speaking at a commemorative event in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), to mark the death anniversary of slain terrorist Burhan Wani on July 8, Khan delivered an aggressive speech flanked by posters of Wani and the late separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. During his address, Khan claimed that from Lolab and Kupwara all the way to Kathua, there is not a single graveyard in Kashmir that does not contain the graves of Pakistani nationals. Highlighting what he termed an unbreakable bond between Pakistan and Kashmir built on these casualties, he asserted that no amount of animosity could sever this connection, referring to the deceased infiltrators as martyrs who died fighting for the Kashmiri cause.
Beyond validating foreign interference in the region, the Hizbul commander turned his fury toward internal dissent within PoK, specifically targeting the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). Khan branded the civil rights coalition as "traitors" and "friends of India," warning them that no compromises would be tolerated regarding Pakistan's core ideology or the sacrifices of their fighters. His scathing remarks underscore the growing desperation of local terror networks to suppress indigenous socio-economic protests in PoK by wrapping their agenda in hardline nationalist rhetoric. Ultimately, Khan’s unfiltered speech serves as a self-incriminating ledger, officially confirming the deep-rooted logistical and human pipeline funneling terror into the Kashmir Valley from across the border.