Intercepts of telecommunication messages between militants in Jammu and Kashmir [Images] and their mentors in Pakistan suggest that cadres of foreign terrorist group al-Qaeda were present in the Kashmir Valley.

Senior security officials engaged in gathering 'techint', or technical intelligence, in the valley said there were intercepts of communications between Lashker-e-Tayiba cadres about the presence of Al Qaeda [Images] members.

The sources said while some of them were hiding in the higher reaches of Bandipore in north Kashmir along with LeT 'chief commander' Bilal alias Salahuddin, a few more were believed to be holed up in the dense forests of Budhal in Qazigund along the Jammu-Srinagar highway in south Kashmir.

Both these locations are strategically placed, as the terrorists could flee to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir within a short span of time in the event of any military offensive, they said.

The communications between two LeT groups in Bandipore and PoK that were intercepted were on a very low frequency transmitter, a mode of communication not generally used by the militants.

The other intercept was of a conversation on a Thuriya satellite phone, the sources said.

The al-Qaeda has apparently been roped in by LeT to step up militancy in the Kashmir Valley, they said.