Kashmir terror attack: Possibly two foreign terrorists involved, says J&K L-G Manoj Sinha

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Oct 21 said two gunmen with masks covering their faces — possibly foreign terrorists — carried out the deadly terror attack in the Ganderbal district on the evening of Oct 20.

Sinha said the terrorists behind the heinous act are being tracked and will be neutralized soon.

Meanwhile The Resistance Front (TRF) — an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) — claimed responsibility for the terror attack, a national TV channel quoted sources as saying on Oct 22.

Citing initial investigations, L-G Sinha said the terrorist duo infiltrated from north Kashmir's Bandipora area to execute the attack that left seven civilians — a doctor and six non-local workers — dead near a tunnel-construction site on the Srinagar-Leh national highway.

Four workers were injured in the late evening attack.

"According to an initial investigation, two people with masks covering their faces — both possibly foreign terrorists — entered the mess of the company constructing the Z-morh tunnel and opened indiscriminate fire." he was quoted as saying.

Sinha said police and other security forces have been given instructions and full freedom to track down and eliminate the perpetrators of the heinous act.

TRF chief Sheikh Sajjad Gul, a Srinagar resident, is the mastermind of the attack, and the terror group's local module, at his behest, carried out the attack targeting Kashmiris and non-Kashmiris together for the first time, sources said.

In 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced a ₹ 10 lakh reward each for information leading to the arrest of Gul and three others — Saifullah Sajid and Saleem Rahmani, who are residents of Pakistan, and Basit Ahmed, a resident of Kulgam district in Jammu and Kashmir, for terrorism in the Union Territory.

Pertinently, TRF has been active in Kashmir and has targeted Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs, and non-locals in the last 18 months, marking a big change in the strategy of the terror group, which earlier allegedly killed several Kashmiri Pandits, sources were quoted as saying.

The terror group wanted to gain attention by doing target killings after the recently concluded assembly polls, according to sources. The Oct 20 Ganderbal attack is the biggest target killing since 2019.

The terrorists carried out the recent attack when the laborers and other staff working on the tunnel project had returned to their camp late in the evening.