The Jammu Kashmir Police on Monday night claimed that ‘Kashmir Tigers’ was behind the attack on the Government Force personnel in the Zewan area of Srinagar, leaving three cops dead and eleven others injured.
The attack in Zewan is one of the biggest attacks carried out on Government forces after the abrogation of Article 370.
The name of Kashmir Tigers first surfaced in January this year. The Police said that it is a shadow group of the Jaish-e-Mohammad. In June, the outfit claimed responsibility for a grenade attack in South Kashmir, Indian Express reported.
Kashmir Tigers released a video message in January in which the masked Militant identified himself as Mufti Altaf, alias, Abu Zarr announced the group’s formation.
Peer Mufti Altaf Hussain Shah, father of two minor girls from the Peerpora area of Nathipora in the Dooru area of South Kashmir’s Islamabad (Anantnag) district, according to his family has been missing since August 08.
A Police 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 forces say there is a visible change in the nomenclature of these militant outfits – from names that had religious connotations to names that are “secular” in nature.
“Pakistan is under pressure to increase the pitch of militancy in J&K but can’t ignore the FATF,” the Indian Express quoted an officer as saying. “Since the names of Lashkar and Jaish are associated with Pakistan and have a religious connotation, they decided to change the names. It is also an attempt to portray militancy as secular and indigenous.”
As for the “secular” nature of J&K militancy, officers say the cadres of the various outfits are essentially the same.
Recently the CRPF stated currently about 199 militants are active in the Kashmir Valley.
The Central Reserve Police Force has said that out of these 199 Militants, 110 Militants are locals and 89 are foreigners.
As new names surface in Kashmir, the names of the older Militant outfits continue to fade from the scene.
The Jaish and Lashkar e Taiba have faced a backlash in Pakistan, where the leadership of these two groups are based, as Islamabad faced the threat of being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force.
An official told The Kashmiriyat that Mufti Altaf had joined Jaish e Muhammad earlier.
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.