New militant outfits take centre stage in Jammu and Kashmir

With the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, the militant outfits operating in the valley reorganised. The operations of militant outfits like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Muhammad declined, while the operations of new organizations, including The Resistance Front (TRF) and the People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), intensified.

Srinagar:With the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, not only did the Central laws were implemented in the region, but also the militant outfits operating in the valley reorganised. The operations of militant outfits like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Muhammad declined, while the operations of new organizations, including The Resistance Front (TRF) and the People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) intensified. While the new outfits claimed they had no ties to other militant groups operating in the valley but the police claim that most of their cadres were affiliated with the old groups.

"They want to present on the international stage that only local militants are operating in Kashmir and Pakistan has no hand in it. The reality is just the opposite," Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir, had said. Another interesting thing was that this was the first time that the names of militant organizations in the valley were not influenced by Islam. Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was the only separatist organization not named in the Islamic style.

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Talking to ETV Bharat, a senior Jammu and Kashmir police official said, "It is true that initially security forces did not take the TRF and PAFF seriously. But when they repeatedly claimed responsibility for attacks on social networking sites and other public platforms, the police were forced to investigate." He added that the identities of the militants killed during the gunfights proved that most of them belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen and the LeT. Not only did they wanted to give local colour to the militancy in Kashmir but they also wanted to make it glamorous. So they often posted videos on social networking sites."

What is the difference between Burhan Wani's use of social media and these new outfits? In response to this question, he said, "They used to make a militant a hero, but now that they have no such face, they are forced to make the organization a hero to make the world believe that militancy in Kashmir is indigenous."

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"Of the 90 militants killed this year in the valley, 51 belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, 20 to Hizbul-Mujahideen, eight to Jaish, three to Al-Badr and others to Gazwat-ul-Hind and the Islamic State," he said, adding that "There were also 12-13 Pakistanis." Referring to the TRF, he said, "After August 5, 2019, when the communications system in the region was shut down, Pakistan planned to launch militant groups called TRF and PAFF. And they came out in the first week of February 2020. "

"A grenade attack took place in Srinagar's Lal Chowk in February last year, injuring two CRPF personnel and four civilians. Preliminary investigations revealed that this was the new face of the Lashkar. And, it is a reaction against the repeal of Article 370. Then in April, the same militant group killed five Indian soldiers during a gunfight in Kupwara's Keran sector, although the militants were also killed, it was a great loss to the security forces. Since then, they have killed political activists, police personnel, and civilians."

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Earlier, police also released a list of militants active in the valley, including Saleem Parray, Yousuf Kantroo, Abbas Sheikh, Riaz Shetergund, Farooq Nali, Zubair Wani and Maulvi Ashraf Khan, besides recruits Saqib Manzoor, Umar Khanday and Wakeel Shah were also included. According to the officer, although they all seem to work separately, in reality, they work together.