A unit called “S1” in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has played a big role in exporting terror to India, way back from the Mumbai blasts in 1993 to the recent terror attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, sources have told NDTV.
S1 stands for “Subversion 1”, intelligence sources said. This unit is the biggest driver behind the forces of cross-border terrorism in Pakistan, they said.
A Colonel of the Pakistani Army heads the S1. while two ranking officers look after active operations, sources said. The code names of these two officers are ‘Gazi 1’ and ‘Gazi 2’.
Its headquarters are in Islamabad, and a majority of its terror activities are funded by drug money, sources said.
S1 personnel and trainers are experts in making all types of bombs and improvised explosive devices, and adept at handling a wide range of small arms, sources said, adding the unit is believed to have detailed maps of most places in India.
Sources said the S1 has been operating for the last 25 years, though India’s security agencies only recently decoded the entire range of its activities. S1, specifically tasked to carry out terror attacks in India, is connected with all terror groups operating in Pakistan.
S1 personnel have been seen in terror training camps of groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. They try to blend in by keeping long beards and wearing local, ethnic clothes, sources said.
The unit is so secretive that many terror groups do not know their trainers are from the S1, sources said. The S1 has trained thousands of terrorists in the last two decades, sources said.
