With Hizbul down, Pakistan gives special emphasis to Lashkar’s TRF
New Delhi, May 08: With the Hizbul Mujahideen leadership down after the killing of Riyaz Naikoo, Pakistan is giving special emphasis to a new group called The Resistance Force that was launched in March 2020.
The first time that the agencies got to know about this group was in March 2020, when the police busted a module of The Resistance Front." The module was busted on May 23, 2020 at Sopore and it was found back then, it was linked to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
Eliminating Naikoo: How the math went wrong for this dreaded terrorist
While the module was busted, its activities on the social media and Telegram channel continues unabated. A senior security official tells OneIndia that this group is the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which is operating under a new name. It is an age old trick of these groups to change names so that there is an element of surprise for the security agencies.
The group, however, indulges more in propaganda activity. On the groups, the members speak about the need to increase the resistance in Jammu and Kashmir, especially after the Centre on August 5, 2019, withdrew the special status.
The group also known as the JK Fighters is very active on the social media. During the raid in Sopore, the police arrested Ahtisham Farooq Malik, Shafqat Ali Tagoo, Musaib Hassan Bhat and Nisar Ahmad Ganai. A police official who questioned the four said that they were reporting to their handler in Pakistan. He goes by the name Andrew Jones and on the group, he operates under the ID of Khan Bilal. The group is called as TRF/JK Fighters-The Resistance Front.
Officials say that the group is used to recruit local youth for terror-related activities, especially in north Kashmir. There are messages on the group, which clearly instigate the locals into taking up arms and fighting the Indian forces.
The importance of eliminating Kashmir’s dreaded terrorist Riyaz Naikoo
The busting of the module in Sopore came in the nick of time. The persons who were arrested had received a consignment of arms from one Kabeer Ahmed Lone. They had collected it and handed it over to Farooq Malik in Kupwara. They were also in the process of receiving a consignment of six AK-47 rifles. During the interrogation, the arrested terrorists said that the plan was on accumulating the arms. They had also drawn up a hit list of prominent personalities, including politicians and were planning targeted hits, investigations also revealed.
Intelligence Bureau officials say that this group has cropped up for a variety of reasons. The Hizbul Mujahideen, the local outfit in J&K is on the verge of a shut down. With most of its top leaders killed by the security forces, the group has not been able to draw inspiration among the youth.
Further
the
infiltrations
have
been
successfully
stopped
to
a
large
extent
by
the
Indian
Army,
despite
Pakistan
violating
the
ceasefire
several
times
in
a
bid
to
provide
cover
fire
to
these
terrorists.
There
are
nearly
300
terrorists
of
both
the
Lashkar-e-Tayiba
and
Jaish-e-Mohammad
along
the
border
waiting
to
infiltrate.
The
launch
pads
were
activated
by
Pakistan
in
the
last
week
of
March,
but
these
terrorists
have
not
found
much
success.
With
the
infiltrations
getting
tougher
and
the
top
terrorists
in
the
Valley
being
cleaned
up,
The
Resistance
Front
was
launched.
Top Hizbul terrorist, Riyaz Naikoo killed
Sources say that the members of this front had not planned any attack immediately. They were in the process of securing arms and ammunition and stocking them first. They were also in the process of recruiting a large number of youth and radicalising them. The agencies are on high alert and are carefully scrutinising the activities of this group both on the ground as well as the social media, the source also added.