Hafiz Saeed Caught On Tape Claiming Responsibility For Akhnoor Attack, Says 30 Soldiers Killed

Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, has been caught on tape saying that the four terrorist who attacked a General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor sector were from Pakistan and that the attack was a response to surgical strikes carried out by Indian special force in September 2016. He was addressing Jamaat-ud Dawa activists at an "orientation session" in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Three labourers of GREF were killed on Monday (9 January) after the terrorists attacked a GREF camp in Jammu district. The attack took place in Battal area near the international border. The GREF is the parent cadre force of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that builds and maintains border roads in the country.

“Four young men, day before yesterday in the evening, entered the camp at Akhnoor, Jammu. I am talking about something recent, it’s not an old event, it happened two days ago,” Saeed is heard saying.

Here is a recording of what he said:

Though he does not directly link the attackers to his outfit, he accepts that the attack was his response to India’s surgical strike. “Modi also talked about a surgical strike, I had replied to Modi. Nawaz Sharif doesn’t reply to Modi, I reply to Modi, by the grace of God. And he (Modi) only accepts my reply, not the reply of anyone else,” he is heard saying on the tape.

“Four mujaheed entered the camp, cleaned up 10 rooms and killed 30 soldiers. They destroyed the camp, burnt it and all four came back safely,” he said.