Pak-based terror groups active in Kashmir: US

Several outlawed Pakistan-based terror groups remain active in Kashmir and continue to target and plan attacks on India, a US report on global terrorism said.

Prominent among these terrorist groups are Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat ul-Mujahideen, which have hundreds of armed supporters in Kashmir.

LeT, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 2001, is one of the largest and most proficient of the traditionally Kashmir-focused militant groups.

"It has the ability to severely disrupt already delicate regional relation," said the State Department in its annual report on terrorism.

The actual size of LeT is unknown, but it has several thousand members in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Pakistan's Punjab Pakistan and in India's southern Jammu, Kashmir, and Doda regions.

"Most LeT members are Pakistanis or Afghans and/or veterans of the Afghan wars. The group uses assault rifles, light and heavy machine guns, mortars, explosives, and rocket-propelled grenades," the State Department said.

LeT maintains a number of facilities, including training camps, schools, and medical clinics in Pakistan.

It has global connections and a strong operational network throughout South Asia, the State Department said.

Based in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, and several other cities in Pakistan, Harkat ul-Mujahideen (HuM) conducts insurgent and terrorist operations primarily in Kashmir and Afghanistan. It trains its militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 1997, HuM has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir.

HuM has several hundred armed supporters located in PoK, and southern parts of Kashmir, Doda regions, and in the Valley.

"Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris, but also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war," the report said, adding that it uses light and heavy machine guns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets.

JeM, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 2001, has at least several hundred armed supporters -- including a large cadre of former HUM members -- located in Pakistan, India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions and in the Valley.