In a tweaked tactic, operatives of the terror groups in Jammu & Kashmir have adopted Burqa (veil) in their bid to outsmart the security forces and evade surveillance.
The move by the terrorists comes amid continuing attrition of the terror operatives at the hands of security forces and is aimed targeting the uniformed men in the Valley in the garb of veil.
Terrorists taking cover of the veil is indicative of the dwindling morale of the terror cadres who are resorting to such measures so as not to reveal their identities and protect themselves from the pinpointed operation of the security forces against the ultras in the Valley.
Sources in the security agencies said a number of operatives and even over ground workers (OGWs) of the Pakistan-sponsored Lashkar-e-Tayyeba have been spotted in Sopore district of the Union Territory.
The tactic has been changed at the behest of their handlers in Pakistan who have directed the terrorists to carry out hits against the security forces’ personnel and their establishment under the cover of burqa, they said.
LeT commander Fayaz War alias Umar has also been spotted in burqa. He is suspected to have been involved in a number of grenade attacks against the Forces in the Valley.
Earlier, various terror groups had adopted locally made mobile applications to communicate with one another in order to evade the surveillance of the security agencies. This was also being done at the behest of the Pakistan army-ISI military complex.
The terror groups have also recently sought to change their names in order to deny Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism in the Valley amid Islamabad facing continued scrutiny of the international community for terror financing including that of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In the last few months, a new outfit has sprung under the banner of The Resistance Front (TRF) which is essentially a new avatar of the LeT, officials said.
Other changed tactics in play in the Valley is a step up in lone wolf attacks against security personnel and elected representatives or their family members wherein one or two terrorists on a motorbike executes such hits.
The continuous bid to upgrade the terror tactics by the Pakistani masters comes amid difficulties in infiltrating terrorists through the tight security grid along the Line of Control (LoC). The terror groups are also facing crunch in finding new cadres due to a variety of reasons amid the continuous liquidation of the commanders and operatives by the forces.
Major achievements of the security forces in the last few years include the killing of Ansar Ghawtul Hind chief Zakir Musa and Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo.
