Terrorist attack in Kashmir, 7 employees including a doctor killed
#News Bureau October 21,2024
Violence has erupted in the Union Territory just days after Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. On Sunday night (October 20), militants opened fire on a camp set up by an infrastructure company that is constructing the Z-Morh tunnel near Gagangir on the Srinagar-Sonamarg road, killing six migrant workers and a doctor.
This is the first major attack in the Valley in recent times and comes in a region that has seen little or no presence of terrorism in the past decade.
On Sunday night, two militants allegedly belonging to terror group The Resistance Front (TRF) opened fire on labourers and other employees working on a tunnel project at Gund in Ganderbal. They had just settled down to have dinner when the militants opened fire, killing seven people.
A Jammu and Kashmir official later said the injured workers narrated how the militants came to the camp site, switched off the electricity and then opened fire on the camp.
Of the seven people killed, six were migrant workers and one was a doctor. They have been identified as Dr Shahnawaz from Budgam in central Kashmir; Gurmeet Singh (30) from Gurdaspur in Punjab, 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 VK Birdi said the victims were rushed to a hospital but succumbed to their injuries. “The incident took place in a dense forest area, but security forces immediately reached the spot and cordoned off the area,” he said.
The campsite Z-Morh tunnel is being built on the road between Srinagar and Sonamarg. The tunnel aims to provide all-year connectivity between Srinagar and Sonamarg. After the firing, officials present at the campsite have termed the attack as a terrorist incident. Officials further said that the attack was a well-planned attack, involving a terrorist who had recently returned from Pakistan.
Officials named the two terrorists as Hureera and Khubaib, with sources saying Hureera had returned from Pakistan and was operating between Ganderbal and Harwan.
Soon after the terror attack in Gagangir, the terror group – The Resistance Front (TRF) – claimed responsibility for the attack. The TRF is an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and came into existence as an online unit after the abrogation of Article 370 and withdrawal of special status from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
