New Delhi: Security forces in Jammu & Kashmir could be attacked with another explosives-packed vehicle in the vicinity of Tral, central security forces have said in a fresh alert based on intelligence inputs.
According to the alert, dated 19 June, the attack could be bigger in scale than the one that killed two soldiers this Monday, sources in the security agencies told ThePrint.
The sources said they had picked up “chatter” that suggests the vehicle to be deployed may have already been stuffed with explosives and prepared for the attack.
The significance of Tral, the sources added, is that it was in this south Kashmir area that Zakir Musa, chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a local al-Qaida affiliate, was killed in May.
The intelligence input identified two terrorists, “Munna and Ismail”, of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) as being involved in preparation of IEDs.
This is surprising since the input began with a warning about a possible attack by al-Qaida, but identified terrorists from the JeM, which was opposed to Musa.
“One such IED was perhaps used in the (17 June) Pulwama attack and their presence is likely to be in the Tral area,” the alert, sent to all units of the security forces, said.
JeM was also responsible for the 14 February terror attack in Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF personnel.
The fears of car bombs are gaining ground among J&K security personnel, with a string of similar attacks or attempts since February.
Also read: Amit Shah & Rajnath Singh to ‘refine’ collaboration to finish Kashmir’s terror chiefs
Scepticism about the information
It emerged earlier this week that a random phone call to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad recently warned of a possible IED attack on the Army in Jammu & Kashmir, days before the Monday strike.
Sources in the central security agencies told ThePrint that information shared by Pakistan, formally or informally, is accepted with scepticism.
The input, they said, could be just another “game” played by Pakistan to earn brownie points before the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) reviews the country’s actions on curbing terror financing.
According to the sources, the appointment of Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, a “subterfuge expert”, as ISI chief was an “indication” that Pakistan could deploy similar tactics in the coming days.
Another reason could be that Pakistan is wary of al-Qaida forging deep roots in Kashmir, since Musa was against the country’s involvement in the Valley’s affairs.
Over the last two years, central security agencies and local police had learned of a Pakistani plot to take violence to the next level by using IEDs in the Valley. A number of intelligence inputs had talked about the emerging threat of IEDs.
Security establishment sources had maintained even then that these were just “trial balloons”, and had feared that a big attack was in the offing.
Also read: Car bombs are becoming the new weapon of choice for militants in Kashmir