The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, which killed a doctor and six migrant workers on Sunday.
TRF chief Sheikh Sajjad Gul is the mastermind of the attack and the group's local module, carried out the attack targeting Kashmiris and non-Kashmiris together, according to a TRF statement being circulated on social media said.
"The attack targeted a construction site where a Billion Dollar tunnel project, primarily for military transportation is underway," the statement said.
A doctor and six labourers were killed in a terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Sunday. The attack comes days after Jammu and Kashmir got a new government under Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. A day before, a labourer was killed in South Kashmir's Shopian district.
In Sunday's attack, two labourers died on the spot as terrorists opened fire on the camp housing them, news agency PTI reported. Four others and the doctor succumbed to their injuries subsequently.
“We have repeatedly warned both local and non-locals through verbal communication an dofficial statements, against involvement in illegal projects,” the TRF statement said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the "cowardly attack on non-local labourers at Gagangir in Sonamarg region". Abdullah won the recently-concluded Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections from Ganderbal and Budgam.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) banned TRF, an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba proscribed terror outfit and all its manifestations and front organisations in January 2023. The ministry has declared them as terrorist organizations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.
The MHA made the announcement through a notification, mentioning that "the activities of TRF are detrimental for the national security and sovereignty of India."
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the attack.
"Unequivocally condemn this senseless act of violence against two labourers in Ganderbal. Deepest condolences to their families," she said in a post on X.
