In the first week of November, an Army unit engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the Pir Panjal ranges received intelligence reports of Afghan mercenaries trying to sneak in through the pass. An operation was launched to nab them.

``Five of them were killed in an encounter. And from their possession we found photographs of Osama bin Laden and his message to the mercenaries to free Kashmir,'' says Colonel B N Singh, who commands the unit.

The Army also found rice, pulses, dried mutton, sugar, spices and medicines. The medicines, which included Paracetamol and Brufen, were found to have been manufactured at Ferro Pharmaceuticals Laboratory, 356-A, 1/9Islamabad and Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi.

Unexploded bombs defused by the Army and live hand-grenades had markings of Pakistani ordnance depots. For the first time, the Army has also noticed a shift in the stance of the mercenaries. Not only have the skirmishes with the Pakistan army increased on the Line of Control (LoC) but the number of well-trained mercenaries slipping in during the skirmishes have also increased.

Cards with photographs of Osama bin Laden, which the mercenaries were carrying, said that after India, USA, UK and Israel had to be taught a lesson. ``There have also been radio intercepts of conversations between these mercenaries in which Laden's name figures. It appears that he is some kind of a cult figure for them and they fight in his name. Our intelligence agencies are trying to fathom the extent of his involvement,'' says a senior Army official at the Line of Control.

``To say these Afghan mercenaries are well-armed would be an understatement. They have the best equipmentavailable in the world, including AK-47 assault rifles fixed with silencers, Pika guns, shoulder-held rocket launchers and Kenwood wireless sets with secret codes. And they are loaded with cash,'' says Brigadier A S Sekhon, Commander of 93 Infantry Brigades.

Colonel B N Singh's force killed 10 mercenaries in two encounters in the Pir Panjal ranges and seized Rs 79,000 and Rs 31,000 each from their possession ``apart from a travellers cheque worth Rs 50,000 drawn in the name of Muslim Commercial Bank, Karachi,'' the Colonel adds.

Brigadier Sekhon during a display of confiscated weapons said a lot of weapons with Russian markings, like rocket launchers, have also found their way into India. ``When the erstwhile USSR pulled out of Afghanistan, it left behind its weapons and these Afghan mercenaries have brought them to India,'' he said.

With the Army having tightened the noose around terrorism in the Valley, the mercenaries have shifted focus to the Poonch-Rajouri sector. ``An important reason for this isthat the Pir Panjal ranges are porous. They walk in and from there can simply walk across to Gulmarg. It is a two-night-long journey. For these battle-hardened mercenaries the lure of Rs 5 lakh (per assignment in India) is a lucrative one. From the Norpur pass they get to Gulmarg,'' says Colonel V K Salivati, commanding officer of a unit in Poonch.

Explaining why the mercenaries carry huge amounts with them, Colonel Singh says that because the mercenaries harass the local population and sexually assault women, the local population does not want to help them. So they carry money to buy food and shelter and get route guidance.

A soldier was killed in early October trying to rescue a young woman in Loran village from the clutches of the Afghan mercenaries. ``That brought the locals very close to us. In fact, it was after this that a local gave us information about the five mercenaries holed up in an abandoned house and we killed them,'' adds Major Kumar, another officer posted at Loran.