Pakistan-backed The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Jihadist terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the terror attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir’ Reasi district on June 9.
The attack has resulted in the deaths of ten pilgrims and injuries to 33 others. Screenshots of the news shared by the Jhelum Media House, the channel of the TRF, warned of additional attacks on non-local individuals, including tourists. They referred to the Reasi bus attack as “the beginning of the renewed start.”
Security sources mentioned that the TRF is refining its propaganda methods and proudly acknowledges and takes credit for attacks that support its goal of preventing people from outside Jammu and Kashmir from entering the region.
“We have seen the post in the wake of the Reasi bus attack, but that alone does not amount to taking responsibility. They feast on any attack that resembles their objectives of creating fear and terror among non-locals, and Reasi could be just another such case,” a top police officer in Jammu said.
Established in 2019 following the removal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the TRF was labelled a terrorist group and outlawed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 in January of the following year. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), at the time, said that the TRF was running “psychological operations on social media platforms for inciting people of Jammu and Kashmir to join terrorist outfits against Indian state”.
Furthermore, in a written response in Parliament in March last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that the TRF had been implicated in planning the murders of security personnel and innocent civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. They have also been involved in coordinating and supplying weapons to banned terrorist groups, recruiting terrorists, aiding terrorists’ infiltration, and smuggling weapons and drugs across the border.
Police have previously connected the TRF to the murders of a Kashmiri Pandit and migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Following Sunday’s attack, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha declared financial aid of Rs 10 lakh for the families of deceased pilgrims and Rs 50,000 for those injured. He also mentioned the setup of temporary headquarters for security forces, including personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Army, and the Central Reserve Police Force, at the attack site.
According to security sources, the Army has deployed quadcopters to help with search operations. At the same time, the National Investigation Agency has arrived at the scene as per standard procedure following a militant attack.
A bus carrying around 50 pilgrims plunged into a deep gorge near the Kanda area, within the limits of the Pouni police station, after the driver lost control following an attack by militants. The bus was travelling from Shivkhori temple in the Ransoo area of Reasi to Katra, the starting point for the Mata Vaishno Devi temple, when militants laid an ambush and opened fire at the bus.
