Seven employees of an infrastructure company, including a doctor and six migrant workers, were killed after terrorists opened fire on a camp housing construction workers on Sunday evening near the Sonamarg health resort on the Srinagar-Leh national highway, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
It was one of the biggest targeted terrorist attacks on construction workers in over three decades of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Also, the region where the attack took place on Sunday has not witnessed the presence of terrorists over the last decade, a report by the Indian Express said.
The terrorist attack on the evening of Sunday (October 20) was also one of the deadliest on civilians in the valley since the June 9 incident in Reasi in which nine pilgrims were killed after the bus they were travelling in plunged into a valley when it came under gunfire from terrorists.
Around 8:15 pm on Sunday, terrorists opened fire on a construction site in the Sonamarg area of J&K’s Ganderbal district, official said, adding that the attack took place near an under construction tunnel.
What has happened?
The Indian Express report quoted a J&K official as saying injured officials recalled that there were two men who came, snapped the electricity and opened fire at the camp.
How many terrorists were there?
A report by PTI quoted officials as saying that the unidentified terrorists – believed to be at least two – opened indiscriminate firing when the labourers returned to their camp late in the evening after the day’s work.
As per sources to News18, the attack on workers was “planned with an idea of (causing) maximum casualties.”
“These two terrorists did recce in advance, with all inlet and outlet of tunnels.” sources further said.
The officials named the two terrorists to be Hurera and Khubaib, with sources saying that Hurera had returned from Pakistan and moved between Ganderbal and Harwan.
TRF, offshoot of Pak-based LeT, claims responsibility
The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility for the attack in J&K’s Ganderbal.
A report by India Today quoted sources as saying that TRF chief Sheikh Sajjad Gul is the mastermind of the attack and the group’s local module, on his behest, carried out the attack targeting Kashmiris and non-Kashmiris together.
Victims of terrorist attack in J&K’s Ganderbal
As per reports, the doctor and workers, targeted by suspected Pakistani terrorists, were part of the construction team working on the Z-Morh tunnel, which connects Gaganeer to Sonamarg in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, the constituency that is represented by the newly elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Those killed have been identified as Dr Shahnawaz from Budgam in central Kashmir; Gurmeet Singh (30) from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, Inder Yadav (35) from Bihar; Mohan Lal (30) and Jagtar Singh (30) from Kathua in Jammu; Fayaz Ahmad Lone (26) and Zahoor Ahmad Lone from Kashmir.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, VK Birdi, who reached the spot to assess the situation, said: “The incident took place in a densely forested area, but security forces swiftly reached the location and cordoned off the area.”
‘Those involved won’t be spared’
Union Home Minister Amit Shah condemned the attack and assured that “those involved in the heinous act will not be spared and will face the harshest response from our security forces.”
‘Dastardly & cowardly’
In a post on X, Omar, who assumed office on October 16, described the attack as “dastardly and cowardly on non-local labourers”.
The J&K CM also said that there were a number of local and non-local labourers too had been injured in the terrorist attack.
As per a report by The Times of India, Sunday’s incident was the fifth targeted attack in J&K this year and the second since the new coalition government led by Omar came to power after the special status under Article 370 was withdrawn in 2019.
On Friday, the bullet-riddled body of a 30-year migrant worker from Bihar’s Banka district was found in a maize field in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
According to the ToI report, seven migrant workers have so far been killed in Kashmir this year.
With inputs from agencies.
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