From Dignibal to Afghanistan
Making of an Afghan trained militant
By Yoginder Kandhari

Ghulam Mohammad Mir, 29 years old now, hails from a sleepy village in North Kashmir. Besides owning large terraces of agricultural land, Mir's family runs a flourshing business in shawls. With a fairly comfortable living the in the village, lure to join militancy obviously came from some where else. So called Kashmir experts may like people to believe that insurgency in the Kashmir Valley is a direct result of past mistakes of Indian Govt. and economic deprivation of people, Mir's story makes such claims appear hollow.
 

Young and the middle agedwould go overboard whenever an invitation was extended to them to join the militant ranks. Ghulam Mohammad Mir was no exception. He too was excited at the prospect of becoming a mujahid and a chance to visit Pakistan-his dreamland . When militant leader Basharat made an offer, Mir seized the opportunity with both the hands. 

Initiation into Militancy: Besides the molvi, village elderly and the respected folks took upon themselves the responsibility of motivating youngsters to joinmilitant ranks for waging a holy war against the 'infidels'. Ghulam Hassan Shah and Mushtaq War, both well past their 60s, discharged this responsibility efficiently and with total dedication. The two formed the village screening committee and wielded enough influence on the final selection as well. Mir considered himself fortunate enough to get the final nod and was thrilled at his selection. He was ordered to report to mujahideen camp at Dignibal. There was nothing secretive about these recruitment rallies or camp locations.These activities were a common knowledge and the establishment appeared to be a mute spectator.

At Dignibal camp, twenty youngmen congregated with the common purpose of crossing over to Pakistan. Here the boys were givenadministrative briefings and instructions about clothing and other equipment to be carried. Proper master rolls were prepared and records maintained by the camp organisers. Women folk, including mothers and sisters of the prospective mujahideen, made a beeline to the camp with warm clothing, hard variety of rations and to wish good luck to them for their ultimate mission. In all this hustle and bustle in the camp, Mir was fully convinced that he had achieved his dream of becoming a mujahid. He eagerly awaited marching orders to cross over to his dreamland.

Exfiltration: On 15th May 1990, the group finally left Dignibal camp for the launching camp at Shalkhud. This camp was tucked in a re-entrant and was better organised. Two other groups of youth, twenty each in number, simultaneously joinedthe camp. Here the boys had the first feel of a regimented routine. 

Immediately on arrival, code names were allotted to each individual and Ghulam Mohammad Mir was re-christened Moshin Khan.The boys knew each other by these code names only and enquiring real particulars was prohibited.

Proper musters would be conducted twice daily. Sixty young mujahideen in the camp were devided into squads of six boys each and most vocal ones were made the squad leaders. Everyone was given a choice to select a buddy-a la army recruitment centre. 

During their stay in the camp, boys were issued sports shoes, warm clothing, walking sticks, camp kits, rucksacks and hard variety of rations. Conversation in Urdu was encouraged. Detailed briefings were carried out about the route for exfiltration, likely problems and sustenance enroute, measures to avoid detection by the security forces etc. Latif and Mongru were introduced to the group as their guides for exfiltration. Their antecedents were neither revealed nor enquired. A whisper went around that the guides had been paid a hefty amount of rupees twenty five thousand each for the high risk job. Basharat accompanied the group as its leader.

From Shalkhud the entire group was lead over mountain tracks overlooking Kangan, Mamer and picturesque Telel in Gurez. Enroute the party encountered all impediments except the security forces. The boys had to negotiate snowbound peaks, circumvent frozen lakes and cross fast moving Kishen Ganga river using ropes. Training at Shalkhud camp came in handy in ensuring smooth exfiltration across the LoC. Exfiltration took its toll when Ashfaq slipped and rolled down Kaw Bal. No serious effort was made to trace the boy and he was presumed to have met his snowy grave.

After a fortnight's track, one fine morning the group reached a Pakistani post in Gilgit. As soon as they stepped inside the post, the entire group knelt and kissed the holy-land. Pakistanis accorded them a warm welcome. A hot cup of tea was served to the guests. Within an hour two helicopters arrived to ferry the boys to Gultari. The long and arduous journey did not end here. Local buses had been pressed into service to transport the boys to the training camp at Gaddi Habibullah, commanded by Colonel Riyaz of Pakistan Army. The bus journey took about four hours and the boys were totally exhausted and hungry by the time they landed in the camp. Khajur were served to the group more as a token of welcome than to satiate their intense hunger.

Immediately, thereafter, each individual was put through a medical examination to confirm whether all the members were circumcised, probably to establish that no Indian agent had sneaked into the group. They were then served hot meals and were let off for the day. It is believed that Bashrat had been given an option to train mujahideen either in Pakistan or in Afghanistan. But the group leader opted for the first course. Training commenced on 01 June 1990 with all the seriousness.

Routine at Training Camp: Training curriculum was well thought out and carefully structured. It had all the essentials elements of military training. Psychological toughening was done through sustained religious indoctrination and anti-India propaganda. A three month training schedule was drawn for the boys to make them expert insurgents. 

By the time training finished, all the boys grew confident to take on the might of Indian security forces in the decisive battle to liberate Kashmir from the clutches ofkafirs.

The younger lot in the group started growing home sick. Based on performance during training, five mujahideen were selected for advanced training in Afghanistan. The lucky ones were Moshin Khan, Molvi, Sher Khan, Commando and Bilal. Thrilled at the prospect of training in Afghanistan, they eagerlywaited for the onward journey while the rest, under Basharat, packed up to return to the Valley.

Training in Afghanistan: The chosen five were airlifed to an unknown destination in thick jungles of Afghanistan. The location of the camp was neither divulged to the trainees nor they dared to ask. The regime in the camp under captain Nurul Rehman, a Pakistani instructor, was very tough. The broad out-line of five month advanced training capsule is given in Table 2.

Besides military training, religious indoctrination continued unabated. Instructors at the camp were ruthless and severe with punishment. However, the group was so possessd that these rigours seemed to them as minor irritants.

Return to Pakistan: On completion of training in Afghanistan, the fully fired mujahideen returned to Pakistan but this time to a different training camp. Return journey from Afghanistan was not at all smooth. A short airlift was followed by six days continuous route march to roadhead before taking a bus ride to a new training camp called Jungle Mangal. Routine in this camp was bereft of any military content. It was confined to observance of religious rituals like offering nimaz five times a day and reciting Koranic verses. 

Since winter had already set in, the group waited for the passes to open. Finally, in first week of May 1991, three guides appeared in the camp to lead the five fully trained mujahideen back to Kashmir Valley for their holy mission. The group readied for return journey. Each individual was handed over an AK-47 rifle, four magazines, 500 rounds of ammunition, two hand grenades, a new pair of sports shoes, two sets of shilwar kameez, a walking stick and rupees three thousand in cash.

Infiltration: A warm send off was given to the departingmujahideen. The group was instructed to restrict movement to night for obvious reasons. Infiltration too took its toll. Bilal suffered frost bite and was proving to be a drag for the group. He was abandoned enroute and nothing is known about him since then. After crossing LoC they were received at Bandipur by Zaffar of Al Barq outfit. Further in the hinterland, they moved from bound to bound without much of a problem. The group halted at Shalbug and finally reached Malbag. At Malbag, the foursome was received by Basharat and stayed in the house of Idris. People thronged to have a glimpse of their Pakistan returned heros. The boys were instructed to shed their weapons and equipment at Malbag and were granted a month's leave to meet their families.

On expiry of leave, the mujahideen quartet reported to their commander for further assignments to carry out their mission. But then that is an another story.