Terrorists target Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, alerts IB

New Delhi, June 27: Ahead of the much awaited Amarnath Yatra, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) issued a terror alert on Thursday, June 27.

The IB alerted the concerned officials saying that terrorists may attack pilgrims who would join Amarnath Yatra beginning from June 28.

The alert was issued as it was suspected that few terrorists might have succeeded to merge with local population in Jammu Kashmir. The militants might have infiltrated crossing the border when seven terrorists were killed during gun battle in May 2013.

However, Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir, had overruled all reports regarding threat to the pilgrims. Abdullah had said there was no increased threat perception to this year's Amarnath yatra compared to previous years and fears of attack as reported in the media were "gross exaggeration".

The first batch of over 3,000 pilgrims left for the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas amidst tight security from Jammu.

The batch comprising of 3,157 yatris, including 563 women and 37 children, was flagged off by state Tourism Minister GA Mir at Jammu base camp.

OneIndia News
(With PTI inputs)