‘Lone wolf’ attacks plotted by Pak-based groups new threat

A top Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, Kaiser Koka, was among two militants killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. The encounter broke out at Wandakpora in Awantipora area after security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation, a police official said. “Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition, including a USA-made M4 carbine rifle and a pistol, have been seized,” a police spokesman tweeted.

Koka was wanted for his role in many cases and he had been active in J&K since 2018, the official added.

Meanwhile, recent arrests and encounters of terrorists in J&K having no direct linkage to any of the known terror outfits has thrown up the new challenge of “lone wolf” attacks for security forces. Officials said this had been a matter of major concern for the security agencies in the Union Territory.

Officials are of the opinion that changing their tactics, Pakistan-based terror outfits appear to have resorted to recruiting “unassuming” youth and providing them weapons to execute “individual” attacks and then retreat to normal civilian life. It is learnt from security officials that they recently arrested a heavily armed terrorist from Bikheryan village in the mountainous Doda district, but what baffled them was that he was not affiliated to any of the known terror outfits. A senior official said such an instance was the first time the security forces witnessed.

Since the handout recovered from the arrested terrorist did not mention his group affiliation, security personnel are working on to find out if Pakistan’s state and non-state actors have changed their tactics in planning and executing lone-wolf type attacks in J&K, officials added.

Many in the security establishment believe that in a bid to absolve itself from the blame of being involved in abetting terrorism in J&K, and to show to the global community that terrorism in the Valley is an indigenous movement, new terror outfits, such as The Resistance Front and Lashkar-e-Mustafa, were created. It was soon established that these two outfits were the frontals of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The lone wolf attacks have been the preferred tactic of ISIS terrorists in European countries as in the absence of a module it is not easy for security agencies to prevent such an attack in advance. (With inputs from agencies)

Courtesy: The Tribune India :11th July , 2022