Kulgam terror attack reminds militancy in Kashmir far from over

The deadly terror attack in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday evening in which three army personnel lost their lives, is a grim reminder that militancy in the Valley was far from over.

Jaish-e-Mohammad offshoot People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) is suspected to be behind the latest attack which occurred in the Halan forest area in Kulgam. The group is said to have been active in the area for some time and is learnt to have known all the dynamics of this forest.

Reports reveal that minutes after the Kulgam attack, at least four social media groups being operated by the PAFF became active and there were hints that they carried out this attack.

The PAFF is the same group which carried out twin terror attacks on the Indian Army in the Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu on April 20 and May 5 in which five jawans of Rashtriya Rifle and five jawans of the Army’s Special forces were killed.

A senior police officer told DH that militancy in Kashmir was far from the end as ultras still have the capacity to carry out attacks on security forces and civilians. “Militancy in Kashmir is facing a shortage in weapons supply but still sees local recruitment, albeit lesser numbers compared to previous years,” he said.

“There is a significant downgrade in terror operations. Terrorists are witnessing a dearth of weaponry and logistics, which is severely denting their capacity to carry out big and lethal attacks at regular intervals. However, they still have the capacity to carry out lethal attacks at intervals, which is a cause for worry,” the officer added.

Sources said the deficit in weaponry has provoked desperate attempts by Pakistan to find new routes and modes of weapon delivery to militants in Kashmir. “The shortage of weapons is affecting the traditional militant outfits like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Lashker-e-Toina more than the newly created ones like The Resistance Front (TRF) and PAFF,” they said.

To overcome the weapon shortage, sources said, airdrops of weapons along the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir suggested that militant outfits and their managers were utilising new methods and tactics to keep the pot boiling.

“These shifting tactics by militant outfits are just a part of a bigger plan, which is yet to come in motion,” they added.

Recently, J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh acknowledged that there were attempts to keep militancy, which is "gasping and dying", alive by Pakistani agencies.