Friday, December 19, 2025
ADVT 
International

15 Years Ago, US Took Note Of Jaish's Terror Training Camp In Balakot

Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Feb, 2019 09:24 PM

    Fifteen years ago, the major terrorist training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot in Pakistan found a mention in a purported secret US Defence Department file leaked by WikiLeaks.


    The memorandum talks about a Pakistani national Hafez K. Rahman, a Guantanamo Detainee, who was 20 years old and born in Gujrar, Pakistan, who turned out to be a jehadi.


    The January 31, 2004 document, signed by Major General Geoffery Miller of the US Army says Rahman received training in Balakot, Pakistan, a location known to house a "training camp that offers both basic and advanced terrorist training on explosives and artillery."


    It says Rahman has admitted to volunteering to fight jihad against the US and its allies, remaining after the events of September 1lth to continue to fight, and receiving training from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).


    The JEM espouses Jihad against the US and is directly supported by Al-Qaida, Gen. Miller wrote.


    It says Rahman was influenced by extremist Mullahs in Pakistan and decided he would go to Jihad in support of the Taliban.


    "Detainee traveled to Zahir, Pakistan, and attended a training camp run by the JeM," he wrote.


    Miller also described JeM as a Tier 1 terrorist group, especially those with state support, that have demonstrated the intention and the capability to attack US persons or interests.


    After completing basic training, Rahmand travelled along with a larger group of JeM fighters to the area around Konduz, Afghanistan.


    He was captured by the Northern Alliance and turned over to US forces. He was subsequently transported to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, on February 7, 2002 because of his knowledge of the Moaskar training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, and his affiliation with the Taliban as a foreign fighter, the US Defence Department memorandum says.


    Thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables, especially those of the US State Department and Department of Defence, were published by the secretive site WikiLeaks, which has established a reputation for publishing sensitive material from governments and other high-profile organisations.


    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, an Australian national, took asylum in the embassy of Ecuador in the UK in 2012. The US government has sought his extradition from the UK for publishing US diplomatic and military secrets.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Punjab Assembly Seeks Swapping Of Land With Pak For Kartarpur Gurdwara

    Punjab will now take up this demand with the Government of India, offering over 11,000 acres of land in exchange for the part on which Kartarpur Sahib stands, on the banks of the Ravi.

    Punjab Assembly Seeks Swapping Of Land With Pak For Kartarpur Gurdwara

    Pakistan's Government Told To Release Indian Man Jailed By Military Court

    A top court in Pakistan on Thursday gave a one-month deadline to the federal government to complete formalities to deport Indian prisoner Hamid Nihal Ansari

    Pakistan's Government Told To Release Indian Man Jailed By Military Court

    Indian-American Woman Anurima Bhargava Appointed To US Body Advocating Religious Freedom

    Anurima Bhargava, a civil rights lawyer, has been appointed as a Commissioner to the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

    Indian-American Woman Anurima Bhargava Appointed To US Body Advocating Religious Freedom

    22-Year-Old Indian Guitarist Found Dead In Dubai Apartment: Report

    Himanshu Sharma was doing his internship as a fifth-year architecture student at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE Dubai Campus) at the time of his death.  

    22-Year-Old Indian Guitarist Found Dead In Dubai Apartment: Report

    Woman In UK Dies After All Teeth Removed

    Woman In UK Dies After All Teeth Removed
    A disabled woman died here in the UK after having all her teeth removed by a dentist at an NHS trust criticised for its "drastic" full extractions from other vulnerable patients.

    Woman In UK Dies After All Teeth Removed

    Flight Lieutenant Mandeep Kaur Becomes The First Sikh Chaplain In Royal Air Force

    Royal Air Force Chaplains: Flight Lieutenant Mandeep Kaur, who grew up in Punjab, becomes the first Sikh chaplain and Kenya-born Flight Lieutenant Ali Omar becomes the first Muslim chaplain.  

    Flight Lieutenant Mandeep Kaur Becomes The First Sikh Chaplain In Royal Air Force