Recent killings in J&K aimed at a grand revival of the Al-Badr

New Delhi, Oct 09: The recent spate of killings in Kashmir have been claimed by a little known outfit called The Resistance Force, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. With Pakistan facing the heat at the world stage for openly using outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmir the strategy now is to create new terror groups in a big to avoid the heat.

However in the Kashmir context the recent killings of non-Muslim civilians is also aimed at something very big. First and foremost, the intention is to create fear in the minds of the people. These killings are also aimed at enhancing the local recruitment process and more importantly the revival of the terror group Al-Badr.

This terror group has been off the radar for long. It was formed by the ISI and had been encouraged to act independently from the previous umbrella group, the Hizbul Mujahideen. This group prior to its separation from the Hizbul Mujahideen had fought in Afghanistan in 1990 alongside the anti-Soviet Afghan Mujahideen. The group was quite prominent in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 2000s. In 2002, it had ordered all women police in the Rajouri district of Kashmir to quit their jobs. The group is also part of the United Jihad Council, a coalition of Pakistan based terrorists who are active in the Jammu and Kashmir region. The Al-Badr came to Kashmir with the sole intention of liberating it from the Indian state.

However the group has now gone down in strength thanks to the increased presence of the Indian Army along the Line of Control. The group has been trying to revive itself in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2018 it had claimed responsibility for a grenade attack in Pulwama in which 23 people were injured.

In 2006, two members of the Al-Badr were arrested in Mysore and weapons were seized from them.

The police claimed that they had managed to foil a major terror attack. Such incidents of Al-Badr cadres being arrested have been reported in several other parts of the country, but now the Intelligence assessment suggests that they want to make a grand revival in Kashmir.

Last month the Jammu and Kashmir police foiled a terror plot when it arrested a terrorist associated with The Resistance Front. One of the arrested, Suhail Shah of Pulwama was pursuing a nursing course in Chandigarh. He was tasked to plant an IED in Jammu by his Pakistan based handler who is affiliated with the Al-Badr. This development makes it clear that the TRF and Al-Badr work in tandem.

An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that there are inputs about the Al-Badr trying to make a revival. They work closely with the TRF and while using the name of the outfit, they would try and revive themselves. They clearly do not want the the heat on them at this moment and hence are working behind the scenes with the TRF, the official also said.

The Centre on the other hand has sent counter terrorism teams to Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the killings. Several other teams of the national security agencies have already reached J&K and they would assist the Jammu and Kashmir police to put an end to these spate of targeted killings.