In a video released the last month, a new name People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) threatened to ‘execute’ those RSS agents who were planning to settle down in Jammu Kashmir in the ‘guise of civilians’. The man attired in a Pheran spoke in Kashmiri with two automatic rifles and several rounds of ammunition placed on a table against the land laws and issuance of domicile certificates in the region.
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The Kashmir valley which has seen a new wave of Militancy post-2016 has seen a drastic rise in the number of local youth joining Militant outfits.
New Organizations were also found which included the Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind, led by Zakir Musa, a prominent Militant commander from South Kashmir, which saw the highest number of Militant recruitments in the past five years, also the highest number of attacks and gunfights during which hundreds of Militants were killed.
On Thursday, during an IED attack on Government Forces in Kulgam, four Army men were injured, one of them succumbed to his injuries later in the hospital where they were being treated.
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A defence spokesman “The IED was planted by terrorists probably during the night hours. In this incident, four jawans of 24RR sustained injuries and were evacuated to a nearby hospital for the treatment of their injuries. Among the injured, one Army jawan succumbed and attained martyrdom,” he added.
A newly found Militant outfit Kashmir tigers claimed responsibility for the attack in which a school was also partially damaged. This is one of four new Militant outfits that has surfaced since 2019 August- The Resistance Front, People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), Lashkar e Mustafa are the other three.
Peer Mufti Mohammed Altaf Shah is, according to a top security official leading this new outfit- Kashmir Tigers that claimed the responsibility of the Attack on Government Forces. “They take refuge in the Breng belt of Anantnag in South Kashmir which has a topography which favors the Militants, this always has been a hiding ground for Militants since its early eruption in the 90s,” A security official told The Kashmiriyat.
A Security official said that Mufti Altaf has Two years of affiliation with various Militant outfits. “We had been monitoring his activities for the past two years as he was a very influential cleric of the area he lives in, he is a teacher and his recruitment into Militant outfit is very dangerous,” the official told The Kashmiriyat.
“He has already started recruiting youth from the Breng belt, he has reached many, but we have reports of one having joined him so far, he can influence the youth of this area,” he said.
Peer Mufti Altaf Hussain Shah, father of two minor girls from the Peerpora area of Nathipora in Dooru area of South Kashmir’s Islamabad (Anantnag) district, according to his family has been missing since August 08.
Family members speaking to The Kashmiriyat said that Altaf who is a son of Ghulam Mohammed Shah Peerpora Nathipora Dooru runs a Madrasa in Veering, Anantnag. “He left home for Maghrib prayers, his family including two minor daughters, a wife have been in a complete state of distress since then,” a family member said.
An official posted in the District confirmed that the family has lodged a missing report as his phone has been switched off since then.
The Security official said that they tried to pursue Altaf to return to his kids and family, “Now he has reached beyond our reach, and his recruitment will create a massive influence on the local youth in his native and all the Breng belt of South Kashmir,” he said while speaking to The Kashmiriyat.
The main three Militant outfits in the Kashmir valley were Hizb ul Mujahideen, Hizbul, and Lashkar. In 2017, a new outfit was formed named Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind and then Zeenat ul Islam, another prominent commander from Shopain started recruiting new youth for Al Badr.
The organizations, officials say, are being formed on the behest of Pakistan as the international pressure is mounting to ban the existing organizations operating on the order side of the border. “Efforts are made to change the names of the existing outfits as outfits in Pakistan are being banned and their leaders arrested amid the mounting pressure on the Pakistan administration”.