Terrorists Target Non-Locals In Kashmir’s Gagangir, Two Killed In Gunfire

Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Gagangir killed two non-locals on Sunday evening. The shooting happened near APCO camp, near a campsite of Z-mode tunnel. Gagangir is located in the Sonamarg area of the Ganderbal district.

Security personnel from the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) along with local police officials have cordoned off the area.

The attack was orchestrated by terrorist group The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as the group claimed responsibility for the killings.

Ganderbal district, long regarded as a peaceful area, has seen non-locals targeted for the first time in recent years.

The district has largely remained calm, and the area where gunfire erupted today has experienced peace for the past 10-15 years.

Videos of the incident are going viral in social media. Graphic footage showed two people, both men and dressed for winters, lying in a pool of blood near the campsite.

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah also said that these two individuals were involved in a key infrastructure project, while condemning their death at the hands of the terrorists.

“Very sad news of a dastardly & cowardly attack on non-local labourers at Gagangir in Sonamarg region. These people were working on a key infrastructure project in the area. 2 have been killed & 2-3 more have been injured in this militant attack. I strongly condemn this attack on unarmed innocent people and send my condolences to their loved ones,” Abdullah, who recently took on his new role in the Union Territory, said in a social media post.

The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) said it ‘strongly condemns the cowardly killing of two non local labourers’.

“It is very painful and unpardonable. We sympathise with the families of victims. Our forces shall punish the killers,” Congress Kashmir unit president Ravinder Sharma said in a social media post.

Regional leader Sajad Lone of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference (JKPC) said in a post that the killings were an ‘insane act of madness’.

“Strongly condemn the dastardly act of terror wherein two persons have lost their lives in Sonamarg. This is an insane act of madness. My thoughts with the families of these two families. May the perpetrators be brought to justice,” Lone said.

Kavinder Gupta, former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, condemned the incident and said Pakistan-backed terrorists are trying to rear their head in the region.

“Unequivocally condemn this senseless act of violence against two labourers in Ganderbal. Deepest condolences to their families,” said Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) supremo Mehbooba Mufti in a social media post.

(with inputs from Ieshan Wani)