EXCLUSIVE: The mysterious death of Islamic State Wilayah Hind's militant in Kashmir
AURORA INTEL NETWORK
June 21, 2019
By Faran Jeffery
militant named Adil Ahmed Das, affiliated with Islamic State’s Hind Province (ISHP) was found dead, while another militant Arif Bhat was found in injured condition in an orchard area in Bijbehara town of South Kashmir’s district Anantnag.
As soon as the news of the shootout was reported by local Kashmiri and mainstream Indian media, there were many speculations from all sides. Some pro-IS Telegram channels blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) while others blamed Hizbul Mujahideen or Indian security forces. Some Indian journalists blamed al-Qaeda allied Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH). While still some pro-militant Telegram channels blamed Indian security agencies for killing Adil Das and injuring Arif Bhat, claiming that Indian security agencies are remaining silent to create dispute among the militant groups in Kashmir. By Thursday, the statements started changing. Many pro-IS Telegram channels started pinning the blame exclusively on Hizbul Mujahideen while pro-Hizb channels were blaming Indian security agencies. For instance, a popular Kashmiri pro-IS channel Ahlu Tawheed Media blamed Hizbul Mujahideen for the killing of Adil Das. Another pro-AGH Telegram channel, Munasireen of AGH, also pinned the blame on Hizbul Mujahideen for the incident.
In a news aggregation thread on Twitter, I also reported what was being reported by local Kashmiri as well as mainstream Indian journalists, while keeping tabs on pro-militant Telegram channels.
On Thursday a statement attributed to the Hizbul Mujahideen operational chief in Kashmir Riyaz Naikoo was circulated on some pro-militant channels which blamed ‘Indian agencies’ for killing the ISHP militant Adil Das. However, the authenticity of the statement could not be verified. According to other reports on pro-Hizb Telegram channels on Thursday, a new audio tape from Riyaz Naikoo addressing the incident is expected to be released soon.
Since there was a lot of speculation surrounding the Wednesday’s event in local Kashmiri media as well as mainstream Indian media but failing to provide any definite answers, I started digging into OSINT and got hold of some information which may shed light on some of the facts surrounding the mysterious event. I scouted pro-IS, pro-Hizb and pro-LeT Telegram channels as well as private militant chat groups for information to ascertain what exactly happened on Wednesday in Anantnag. Some of these Telegram channels have since been deleted by Telegram. For instance, pro-IS Ahlu Tawheed Media channel was deleted late Wednesday but came up with a new channel on early Thursday.
The following exclusive information is part of my OSINT investigation into the shootout that took place in Bijbehara of Anantnag, Kashmir on Wednesday.
As per the information I found, Zubair Wani of Hizbul Mujahideen and Arif Bhat & Burhan Ahmed of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) tricked ISHP militant Adil Das, who used to be in the ranks of LeT before he joined ISHP, by inviting him to meet them, telling him that they wanted to defect from Hizb/LeT to ISHP and pledge their allegiance to IS emir Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Adil Das along with three other ISHP militants met them to proceed with their supposed defection.
All three of them, Zubair Wani (Hizb), Arif Bhat (LeT), Burhan Ahmed (LeT) pledged their allegiance to ISHP and Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. We can confirm this from the following photo session these militants carried out moments before the shootout.
After these militants pledged allegiance to ISHP and did a photo session, Adil Das asked two of his three fighters to leave. Now there were two ISHP militants left on the scene: Adil Das and Turaib. Others on the scene were Zubair Wani, Arif Bhat and Burhan Ahmed. The only person missing in the above photos is ISHP militant Turaib, whose photo I could not find but chatter in private pro-IS chat groups confirmed that he was present on the spot when the shootout took place. It is very likely that his photo was not posted by IS militants in the private pro-IS chat groups to secure his identity since he was able to escape the scene unharmed.
These five militants then offered prayers together. As soon as they were done with prayers, Zubair Wani reached for his AK-47 rifle and shot at Adil Das. Adil Das was hit and eventually succumbed to his injuries while the other ISHP militant Turaib jumped off the hill and managed to escape the scene but left his weapons and ammo behind. In the shooting, Arif Bhat was accidentally hit by a bullet fired by Zubair.
Zubair Wani and Burhan Ahmed seized the weapons that Adil Das and Turaib had brought with them, and also took their associate Arif Bhat’s rifle and ammo and left him in injured condition to save themselves from the approaching Indian security forces. Arif tried to escape the scene in injured condition on his own but was arrested by Indian forces a short distance away from the scene of the shootout.
On Wednesday there were also some reports, which I posted in my Twitter thread, about a disagreement between Adil Das and LeT militants about the weapons Adil Das took with him when he defected to ISHP. However, this particular report remains unverified by pro-IS and pro-Hizb sources. It is also important to mention here that LeT, a pro-Pakistan group, is ideologically against IS and according to some reports from local Afghan sources, LeT militants have been fighting alongside Afghan Taliban against Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Kunar, Afghanistan in recent Taliban vs ISKP battles. Similarly, Hizbul Mujahideen is also a pro-Pakistan group that is ideologically against IS.
Another photo of Arif Bhat before he was taken away by Indian security forces. The clothing in this photo matches the clothing Arif Bhat is wearing in the above photos where he is posing with Adil Das and other militants in a photo session.
The above photos help establish that what happened on Wednesday in Anantnag was most likely a trap set up by LeT and Hizb militants to either recover weapons from Adil Das that were taken by him when he defected to ISHP or to gun him down for unknown reasons. This also looks like a well-planned trap since Hizb and LeT militants can be seen wearing IS insignia in the above photo session, which indicates they misled Adil Das and other ISHP militants to believe that they were about to defect to ISHP.
While pro-Pakistan groups have avoided an open confrontation with ISHP in Kashmir, it was just a matter of time before an incident like this happened since ISHP along with al-Qaeda allied Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH) have been breaking away militants from the ranks of pro-Pakistan militant groups. And both ISHP and AGH have largely succeeded in doing so since many militants these days in pro-Pakistan militant groups in Kashmir are disillusioned after Pakistani government, bowing to international pressure, has stopped all kinds of support for these militant groups. And not only that, but Pakistani government has also placed restrictions on militant leaders based in Pakistan.
So far, the official media group of ISHP, the al-Burhan Media, has not released any statement, but a statement from the media group is expected soon. This article may be updated further in case of new information.
On late Thursday, a video was shared by pro-IS Telegram channels which showed an ISHP militant identified by pro-ISHP channels as Abu Khateeb Al-Hindi, who can be seen and heard making a seven minute address. Moreover, an article was also released by the pro-IS Ahlu Tawheed Media group which served as a follow up on the video. Moreover, new photos from the photo session (see above) were also publicly shared by pro-ISHP Telegram channels.
In the video, militant Abu Khateeb Al-Hindi gives brief details about the incident surrounding the killing of ISHP militant Adil Das allegedly at the hands of militants from Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT.
“Oh, Muslim, Oh people of Kashmir, wake up now from your ignorance. I will try to keep this video short since we are running out of time. Whatever happened with our great mujahid Adil Das alias Abu-Hammas Al-Kashmiri was a plot hatched by both Pakistan sponsored Hizb-ul-mujahideen and LeT. This plot was hatched by Hizb Chief Riyaz Naikoo and LeT Chief Abu Talha in the name of weapons. Weapons is an excuse and it was never the reason for the killing of Adil and others killed previously. The real intent is to kill mujahideen like Abu-Hammas Al-Kashmiri (Adil Das) and others. Zubair Ahmed Wani (Hizb-ul-mujahideen) from Ara Dehruna Kokernag Anantnag, Arif Bhat (LeT) from Larkipora Fatehpora Anantnag and Burhan Ahmed (LeT) from Vessu Qazigund Anantnag contacted Adil Das, bitched about Hizb, LeT and told him that we have now realized that fighting under Hizb/LeT is no jihad. We want to meet you, give our allegiance to Islamic State/ Abu-Bakar-Al-Baghdadi and also talk to you about few things in detail. Then we met and these three guys have their allegiance to Islamic State, wore our clothes with Islamic State flag drawn on them, took photos with us, holding our weapons, gave assurance that going forward we are with you. We have already shared photos and we will be sharing more in due course. They succeeded in the plot but Hell is waiting for them in Hereafter. Adil Das was shot by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Zubair Ahmed Wani alias Abu-Muawiyah (shows his photo on his phone). I want to add few more things, the mujahideen who have been killed in similar fashion or by providing intelligence to Indian forces by Pakistan sponsored Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and LeT. Militants killed by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and LeT:
1. Qayoom Najar from Sopore (Kashmir’s longest surviving militant who was on his way from Pakistan to Kashmir to join IS, his Intel was passed on to Indians)
2. Mughees from Srinagar, switched from Hizb to IS, was killed by Hizb-ul-mujahideen by providing his intel to Indians.
3. Fayaz Ahmed from Palhalan Pattan Baramulla.
4. Suhaib Rumi from Baramulla, LeT operational chief who wanted to defect LeT and join IS, was killed by Indian forces after his Intel was shared by LeT/Hizb
5. When Burhan Wani (Hizb Chief) tried to do away from Pakistan and declare Islamic khilafah in Kashmir. He was eliminated by Hizb. They later said he was poisoned and killed in an encounter, but people know the truth
6/7/8: ISJK Emir Anwar, his associates Firdous and Sameer were ruthlessly beaten by Hizb-ul-mujahideen militants, were disarmed and looted. As soon as they tortured them, Hizb lost 13 fighters in a few hours. Their evil deeds come to haunt them.
9. ISHP OGW Arif Ahmed Sofi from Qaimoh Kulgam was killed by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Altaf Kachroo. He accused him of being a spy and killed him. Altaf Kachroo was killed like a dog within few days after that.
They are not mujahideen, but army of a certain country. They are fighting for land for a certain country (Pakistan). Look what they did to our Adil Das. They shot him, then strangled him to death using the elastic of his trousers.
Moments before Adil Das was killed. Zubair Ahmed Wani (Hizb-ul-Mujahideen) asked Turab (ISHP) to lead prayers. He led prayers, as soon as they were done with prayers, Zubair Ahmed Wani shot at Adil Das, Turab jumped off the hill without his weapon. Zubair Ahmed Wani also accidentally shot his associate Arif Bhat (LeT), who was apprehended alive by Indian forces. It was an instant justice delivered.
The video was extensively shared by pro-IS Telegram channels like Ahlu Tawheed Media, Baqiyah State, United Kashmir, etc.
One of the Telegram channels associated with ISHP published the following quote attributed to one of its militants who survived in the Anantnag shootout.
It was never about weapons. Weapons is only an excuse. Adil Das who defected from LeT to ISHP did not own his weapon to LeT. He had purchased it from a LeT militant for 250K Indian rupees. The weapons they looted yesterday (including 2 AK rifles, 9 AK magazines, 7 thrower shells and magazine pouches).
It should be noted that the official media wing of Wilayah Hind, the al-Burhan Media group, has still not released any official statement regarding the incident, which is surprising.
Meanwhile, Telegram channels associated with Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT have been blaming the Indian security agencies for ‘hatching a conspiracy’ against them to ‘tarnish the jihad in Kashmir’. However, they have given no evidence to support those claims.
It is also worth noting that on Wednesday after the incident was reported in the media, even most pro-IS Telegram channels blamed Indian security agencies for the killing of Adil Das. But the narrative started changing around late Wednesday and early Thursday. The change in their claims can be assumed to be due to lack of information in the initial hours following the incident. According to chatter in pro-IS Telegram chat groups, the one surviving ISHP militant from Wednesday’s incident later got in touch with his colleagues and shared what had happened. This could also explain why there still hasn’t been an official statement by the al-Burhan Media group, which is most likely due to the fact that these ISHP militants were not in contact with their main spokesperson.
Analysis:
As I said in this article above, something like this happening was just a matter of time. So far Kashmir based rival militant groups have largely avoided open confrontation even after several minor incidents in the past where one militant group acted against the other, and that can be explained because all these militant groups have a much larger enemy to fight: the state of India. But the incident on Wednesday is something which I didn’t see coming this early on. The incident has the potential to send Kashmir spiraling into a full fledged civil war between rival militant groups, especially now that pro-ISHP channels are openly accusing Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT of killing Adil Das. If such a war erupts in Kashmir, it will primarily have four sides: Islamic State (ISHP) militants, Al-Qaeda allied Ansar Ghazwatul Hind militants, pro-Pakistan militant groups like Hizbul Mujahideen, and Indian security forces. This certainly isn’t in the interest of the general public in Kashmir and will cause a lot of bloodshed on all sides.
It is also important to note that Pakistan passing on intelligence to India on Kashmir based militant groups that are not sympathetic towards Pakistan is not something unimaginable. Just earlier this month there were reports in the media which said that Pakistan has passed on intelligence to U.S. and India about an imminent attack in Pulwama by Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH) militants to avenge the killing of Zakir Musa. For Pakistan, Kashmir has always been about its national interests and understandably Pakistan or its allied groups in Kashmir will only tolerate ISHP and AGH to a certain extent.
The official statement by ISHP confirms almost all the points I reported in my investigation in the above article. The statement said that LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen militants misled Abu Hamas (Adil Das) and Abu Turaib by telling them that they were going to defect to ISHP. Adil and Turaib showed up with other ISHP militants and took the bayah (pledge) from these LeT and Hizb militants and did a photo session. After that, the remaining ISHP militants were told by Adil to return as Adil and Turaib planned to stay with these new recruits for some time. After the rest of the ISHP militants left the area, Zubair Kachro (Hizb), who was the leader of the group of three new supposed recruits as per ISHP statement, asked Turaib to lead the prayers. When Turaib was leading the prayers, Hizb and LeT militants opened fire on him and Adil Das, in which Adil was killed while Turaib managed to escape. The statement further says that LeT and Hizb militants then looted the weapons that were brought by Adil Das and Turaib and left their own injured militant Arif Bhat, who as per the ISHP statement was injured by his own Hizb and LeT colleagues in cross-fire, at the site and fled the area to escape from the approaching Indian security forces.
The rest of the statement contains religious language where ISHP quotes Islamic Prophet. In the end, ISHP harshly criticizes and calls takfeer on Hizbul Mujahideen, LeT and Pakistan’s premier security agency for ‘betraying jihad in Kashmir’, and also subtly threatens retaliation for the killing of Adil Das ‘in action, not words’.
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