Kashmiri terrorist groups’ conglomerate the United Jihad Council (UJC) has announced a ban on the use of anti-personnel mines in its terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. The United Jihad Council which is an amalgam of 13 armed Kashmiri groups besides five other non-Kashmiri groups having ‘observer’ status, took this decision on 16 October, said International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), a Geneva-based humanitarian organisation today. “The UJC has stated it may continue to use command-detonated IEDs against military targets, but has banned use, production or trade of victim-activated mines as prohibited under the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty,” and ICBL press release said adding the UJC directives are binding upon all the 13 and five other terrorist groups.
The announcement came at the end of a two-week mission to Kashmir by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and was the result of a year-long series of activities carried out in partnership with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a Srinagar-based ICBL member. “The UJC’s pledge is yet another sign of the growing acceptance of the norm which prohibits antipersonnel mines because of their indiscriminate nature,” said Mr Sylvie Brigot, ICBL Executive Director, in welcoming the announcement. “We now encourage both India and Pakistan to consider a moratorium on new mine use and to launch comprehensive mine clearance programmes”, Mr Brigot added.
| Just as soon as the jihadis stop coming across the Line of Control ... |
Most mines in Kashmir are situated near the Line of Control between the Indian and Pakistani administered areas.
In November 2006, the ICBL conducted its first mission to Kashmir at the invitation of the JKCCS. Throughout the following year, JKCCS and the ICBL continued to lobby and seek public statements of support for a mine ban from key political parties and opinion makers. “In their declaration, the UJC stated that use of antipersonnel mines is equivalent to blind terror and that use of antipersonnel mines is prohibited under Islam. UJC members are thought to have made only limited use of antipersonnel mines in the past,” the ICBL relese said.
In recent years, some of the members, particularly Hizbul Mujahideen and Laskar e Toiba, have used command-detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs), some of which have caused civilian deaths and injuries.
| Which apparently is okay under Islam. |
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