Why are Pakistani terror groups utilizing shadow outfits for assaults in J&K?

The recent spate of terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir has put into focus the mushrooming of shadow militant outfits of Pakistan-based terrorist groups Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The ‘Kashmir Tigers’, a shadow group of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Doda and Kathua, where 10 security personnel were killed.

Earlier this week, in a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district, as many as five security personnel, including a Captain, were killed. The Kashmir Tigers have warned of more such strikes against the Army.

Police sources informed India Today that Jaish-e-Mohammad was using a strategy of getting these shadow groups to claim responsibility for these attacks.

A senior officer in J&K Police, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it a well-thought-out plan by Jaish and Lashkar to hoodwink security agencies.

“This is not the first time terror outfits are using shadow names. This strategy has been employed previously, with names like The Resistance Front, Kashmir Freedom Fighters and People’s Anti-Fascist Front, but the forces are aware of this game plan,” the officer said.

While causing confusion and misleading investigation is a major reason for this shadow strategy, experts believe another important factor is an attempt to give an indigenous touch to the terror attacks.

By using the name Kashmir Tigers, the impression is created that local militants are operational and carrying out these attacks.

Kashmir Tigers

The name Kashmir Tigers first surfaced in 2019, after the revocation of Article 370.

In December 2021, the outfit claimed responsibility for an ambush against police on the outskirts of Srinagar, which resulted in the deaths of three officers.

In a 2021 terror attack, terrorists indiscriminately fired upon a police bus from the 9th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s armed wing in Zewan, on the outskirts of Srinagar. This attack resulted in several police personnel being injured, with three succumbing to their injuries.

The same group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the Union Territory since then.

On June 12, they targeted the Army’s Temporary Operating Base (TOB) in Doda, injuring five Army soldiers and one special police official.

This attack took place at a joint checkpoint of the police and Rashtriya Rifles at an Indian Army base in the Chattargala area, near the Sarthal area of Kathua district. According to reports, the terrorists also hurled a grenade, causing further injuries.

This violence continued with the July 9 attack by the Kashmir Tigers in the remote Machedi area of Kathua district. The terrorists targeted the army truck near Badnota village in Lohai Malhar, approximately 150 km from Kathua town, around 3.30 pm on Monday. A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) was among the five personnel killed in the attack. Five other soldiers were injured and hospitalised.