SRINAGAR — An offshoot of the militant outfit, Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) calling itself the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) has claimed responsibility for the Botapathri militant attack by releasing a video on social media.
The PAFF has released a video that showed a militant firing a rocket at the army vehicle from the dense forest in the Botapathri area.
While showing concern at the use of a rocket by the militants, officials confirmed that the rocket did not hit the army vehicle, but fell some distance away from it. Had the rocket hit the vehicle it would have caused greater damage.
Four people, including two army soldiers and two civilian porters, were killed on the spot on Thursday when militants attacked an army vehicle in the Botapathri area of Gulmarg.
An injured soldier succumbed in the hospital on Friday, taking the toll of people martyred in Thursday’s Botapathri militant attack to five.
“A rocket was fired by the militants towards the army vehicle that was targeted in Botapathri, but it didn’t hit the intended target and fell near the vehicle without causing any damage.
“The firing of the rocket is a cause of concern as this is the first time that such a weapon was used in any recent attack on the army in Jammu and Kashmir. Had the rocket hit the vehicle, it could have led to more damage.
“The militant group that attacked the Line of Control in Botapathri was not recently infiltrated. It appears that it was a group of four militants, who carried out the attack and had infiltrated earlier this year.
“We feel that the group, comprising mostly of foreigners, was already in the forests of Baramulla district for the last few months and the same group carried out the attack. The tracks they have used while fleeing after the attack suggest that they have returned to the same area from where they were operating.”
“One of the militants of this group is a local while the other three are foreigners. The security forces are working on the leads they are getting to track down the group.”
“The search operation has been intensified to locate the group of terrorists by using drones, helicopters, and increasing checkpoints, particularly in Tangmarg and Gulmarg areas.”
“Army had also sent more soldiers, including the elite Para Commandos, who are conducting searches to track down the militants,” officials confirmed.
Meanwhile, The Gulmarg Gondola cable car service was shut down as a precautionary measure after Thursday’s Botapathri attack.
After a security assessment, the Gondola cable car service was resumed Friday noon. — (IANS)