New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday questioned the Centre’s foreign policy on establishing relations with Taliban-led Afghanistan and pledging Rs 200 crore developmental aid to the neighbour saying that weapons from Kabul were being used against Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The weapons left behind by the US forces and now under Taliban control are finding their way into the hands of terrorist organizations. Recently, the terrorists used steel core bullets that could penetrate bulletproof armour to kill five of our soldiers in Poonch. The bullets are being linked to the Taliban. Earlier, such smuggled weapons have been used for targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in J&K and in various terror attacks in the border UT,” Congress media head Pawan Khera said.
“There is a need to rethink the government’s foreign policy vis a vis Taliban-led Afghanistan. Is it okay to talk to the Taliban when they are being linked to terror incidents in India? Will the government raise this issue with the Taliban? The PM is silent on the Poonch terror attack, on the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, on killings of Kashmiri Pandits, and on the Chinese intrusions across the LAC,” he said.
According to Khera, there has been no word on the April 20 Poonch attack either from the PM, Foreign Affairs Minister, or the Home Minister. “This silence shows the priorities of the government. They don’t want to curb such terror attacks but are curbing discussions on them,” he said, adding that the questions recently raised by former J&K Governor Satyapal Malik over lapses behind the Pulwama attack have not been answered.
The Congress media head further said that the steel core bullets used in the Poonch attack had earlier been used by the NATO forces in Afghanistan when the country was under the occupation of the US-led allied forces.
“After the US left Afghanistan in August 2021, these steel core bullets reached terror organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad via Taliban. There are reports about the transfer of such weapons. On Feb 28, 2022, a report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction had expressed concern that the Taliban could sell such left-behind weapons to earn revenue. Even the New York Times had a report that US-made pistols, grenades and night binoculars left behind in Afghanistan were reaching arms dealers via the Taliban. Recently, JeM’s banned offshoot People’s Anti-Fascist Front released a video of the Poonch attack on social media and claimed that the driver of the army truck was killed in the first spray of bullets.The Modi government had changed its approach towards the Taliban government and pledged Rs 200 crore in the 2023 budget to revive Indian projects there while investment in New Kabul town is being explored,” said Khera.
The use of such Chinese made armour piercing bullets was reported first in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017 when JeM carried out a suicide attack on a CRPF camp in Lethapora, said Khera, adding that such bullets were used again in 2019, against CRPF jawans in Anantnag. He further said that Chinese-made pistols and grenades were recovered in 2019 in Samba and in 2022 in Uri. Khera noted that several civilians and soldiers have been killed in the terror attacks over the past few years.
Also read: J&K: Over 40 detained for questioning in Poonch Army truck attack case
