Bruce Loudon, South Asia correspondent KASHMIRI terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba is believed to have recruited a "honeytrap brigade" of female militants to gather vital information from Indian soldiers about troop deployments and strategy. The existence of the brigade has reportedly alarmed Indian security agencies already concerned about incidents in which their soldiers have passed on classified information to the terror group linked to al-Qa'ida.
Intelligence agencies have become aware of a steady stream of women returning to Kashmir after receiving arms and tactical training in camps in Pakistani territory. The interrogation of a 20-year-old Kashmiri woman, Khalida Akhtar, arrested in Srinagar recently, revealed details of the band of women terrorists. The woman had got to know an Indian army officer and had met him several times and attempted to get information from him. But the officer approached his superiors, and the woman was arrested when she arrived to meet him at a Srinagar park.
Members of the honeytrap brigade were being used "to trap army officers and jawans (soldiers) to monitor troop movements so LeT gains vantage positions" during encounters with the Indian armed forces, it was reported last night.