Jammu attacks tied to highly-trained JeM terrorists with battle experience in Afghanistan: Report
A “fresh batch of terrorists” who infiltrated the region in the last six months could be behind the surge in terror attacks in Jammu, reported The Indian Express quoting people aware of the matter.
This group, primarily comprised of recruits from Pakistan’s Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions, is suspected to be associated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit, according to the report.
Four Army personnel were killed on Monday night in a fierce gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in Doda district. This was the third major terror incident in Jammu in three weeks and seventh incident since the new NDA government was sworn in.
On July 8, five army personnel were killed and as many were injured in a terrorist ambush in Kathua district. A day before, an army personnel was injured in terrorist attack on a security post in Rajouri district.
Nine pilgrims were killed and 42 were injured in a terrorist attack on a bus in Reasi district on June 9, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers took oath for a fresh term.
While the ‘People’s Anti-Fascist Front’ initially claimed responsibility for the Poonch-Rajouri attacks, the ‘Kashmir Tigers’ took credit for the subsequent attacks in Doda-Kathua. Both groups are believed to be JeM fronts, The Express reported.
The terrorists, described as highly trained and motivated, possibly include former Pakistan Army soldiers and individuals with battle experience in Afghanistan. The precision of these attacks, coupled with the use of advanced technology like body cameras, points to the presence of seasoned fighters, potentially from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, who have fought alongside the Taliban, according to the report.
“Both groups have made sophisticated videos of the attacks using body cameras, and a backend team puts text in impeccable literary English for propaganda. They sometimes even quote noted authors and poets such as Robert Frost,” Express quoted an Armed Forces officer as saying.