Reasi Terror Attack: Pakistan-Based LeT Group Suspected To Be Behind Pilgrim Bus Ambush That Killed Nine

Reasi Bus Terror Attack: Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) is suspected to be behind the deadly Reasi terror attack in Jammu on Sunday evening. Nine Hindu pilgrims en route to Vaishno Devi were killed, and 33 others were injured when militants opened fire on their bus, causing it to plunge into a gorge. Among the dead victims, four were from Rajasthan including a two-year-old boy and three hailed from Uttar Pradesh. The Pir Panjal route, notorious for its difficult terrain, is frequently used by terrorists to infiltrate into Jammu from the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch and Rajouri before moving towards Kashmir.

On Sunday evening, The Resistance Front (TRF), LeT’s front organisation, claimed responsibility for the attack to portray it as an act by local terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir rather than foreign militants based in Lahore, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Sources suspect the involvement of ex-Pakistani army SSG commando-turned-LeT operative Illiyas Fauji and two other terrorists from Pakistan, who have been evading capture since the attack on an IAF convoy in Poonch on May 4, according to reports by the Times Of India.

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Top official sources indicated that the attack was strategically timed to coincide with the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi's cabinet. The perpetrators are believed to be part of a group of around 12 jihadists moving in small units within the Rajouri-Poonch forests in Jammu. This group includes several Pakistani nationals from across the LoC, and while there is speculation about the use of cross-LoC tunnels, this has been denied by Indian security forces and the Indian Army.

In the past five years, the Poonch-Rajouri sector has witnessed numerous skirmishes between the Indian Army and terrorists, with high casualties on the Indian side due to the terrorists' advantage of surprise and mobility.

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According to Union Home Ministry data, eight civilians were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the first five months of this year up to May 31. The last attack in Reasi occurred on May 13, 2022, when terrorists used "sticky bombs" on a bus carrying pilgrims from Katra to Jammu, resulting in four deaths and injuries to 13 others.