Documents written in Urdu that were recovered from the three attackers at the Nagrota Army camp in Kashmir claimed the incident was “the first instalment in revenge for killing Afzal Guru”, reported The Hindu. The men had launched an attack at an Indian Army unit early on Tuesday, in which seven soldiers were killed.
The documents point to the involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in the attack, the militant outfit also believed to be behind the strike at the Pathankot Air Force base on January 2. The JeM reportedly refers to its militant units in Kashmir as the Afzal Guru squad. Guru was hanged in 2013 after he was convicted for his links to the Parliament attack of 2001.
The papers found also said the militant attack at Nagrota was the work of “holy warriors fighting for Ghazwa-e-Hind”, The Indian Express reported. Besides the papers, grenades and other weapons were also recovered from the militants. An Army source told The Hindu that the weapons had Pakistani markings on them. However, the Army has made no official statement regarding the items recovered from the attack site.
The attack at Nagrota was the third such strike this year – at least seven soldiers died in the Pathankot strike on January 2, while 19 were killed in the attack at the Army base in Uri, Kashmir, on September 18. The incident at Nagrota comes amid worsening ties between India and Pakistan, and increased ceasefire violations and cross-border militancy. The attack also came two months after the Indian Army launched surgical strikes on militant camps along the Line of Control on September 29.
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