Pak-backed Lashkar front claims responsibility for attack on pilgrims bus in J&K’s Reasi, says more to come

The terror attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on June 9 which killed at least 10 people and injured 33 others was carried out by Pakistan-backed The Resistance Front which has warned of more such attacks in the future.

According to media reports, the TRF in a video message warned of more such attacks on "tourists and non-locals", calling the Reasi attack only the "beginning of a renewed start".

These terrorists are part of the same group that carried out other attacks in Rajouri and Poonch over the past month. 

The incident took place around 6:15 pm, almost an hour before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony in the national capital. The bus returning from Shiv Khori shrine was en route to Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. 

The 53-seater bus was ambushed by the terrorists who hid in the nearby forest. A bullet hit the bus driver causing him to lose balance, following which the bus plunged down the gorge near the Teryath village of the Poni area.

According to newswire PTI, most victims were from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Among the dead are the driver and conductor of the bus, who were both from Reasi, while the injured include 34 from Uttar Pradesh, five from Delhi and two from Rajasthan, PTI reported, citing officials.

Security has been strengthened in the area with a massive search operation underway and drones being used to search the dense vegetation around the site where the attack took place. 

A team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) have also joined the operation and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been tasked with the probe into the attack.

The Resistance Front is a terrorist organization which was founded in 2019 after the abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. TRF has been involved in dozens of terror attacks and has been active in the south of the Pir Panjal region for two years.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced a financial aid of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who died while the injured would be given Rs 50,000. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that all the injured are provided with the best possible medical care.

Many leaders including the National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, Union Minister Amit Shah, President Droupadi Murmu, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Trinamool Congress supremo and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have condemned the terror attack.