In a startling revelation, visiting Jammu and Kashmir [Images] Liberation Front chief Yaseen Malik has said about 3,500 militants in Jammu and Kashmir were trained at a camp set up by Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

"Sheikh Rashid has played a great role for Kashmiris' liberation. He used to support the frontline jihadis but very few people know about his contribution," Malik said at a function in Islamabad on Monday where the minister was also present.

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However, Rashid, who had refused to comment on the statement on Monday, sought to make light of the remarks on Tuesday and said, "I do not know which Sheikh he [Malik] is referring to. There are so many Sheikhs in Rawalpindi."

Supporting Malik's assertion, noted Pakistani journalist and television anchor Hamid Mir said Rashid had set up the militant camp in his sprawling farm house near Fateh Jung, about 50 km from Islamabad from 1988 to 1990 to train JKLF men.

The camp's existence was fairly well-known to public and journalists at large in Pakistan, he added.

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