Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 27

Even as the Kashmir valley has been put on an alert after the deadly Pampore ambush that left eight Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead, a dramatic video of the attack has emerged which shows militants opening indiscriminate fire on the halted CRPF bus.The 110-second video has been shot by a local villager from across the Jhelum. It shows two militants dressed in black shirts and trousers firing at the CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Frestbal, Pampore, 15 km from Srinagar.  The amateur mobile phone footage shows militants firing bullets for nearly two minutes.The video shows one of the  militants  raising his gun and  pointing it towards the CRPF bus, just to ensure that maximum bullets hit those inside. Then another gunman comes to one side of the bus and pumps more bullets on the  bus that was on its way to Srinagar from Lethpora, Pulwama. Inspector General (Operations), CRPF, Nalin Prabhat said that the video clearly showed the two militants were ‘fidayeen’ (ultras on a suicide mission).“As the video ends, it showed that the CRPF had pinned them down,” Prabhat told The Tribune. As is clear from the video, the militants had enough time to flee but they engaged the security forces in a gunfight. The two militants were killed in the retaliatory firing.A senior police officer said other videos of the attack had also emerged and the police were analysing  them. The  unidentified local, who has shot the video, seemed to be under impression that the security men were firing aimlessly which is evident from background voices. “Worried” women can also be heard in the  background while the  person shooting the video tells them to remain low.However, questions are being raised about lapses on the part of the CRPF that might have led to high casualties in the ambush. A Road Opening Party (ROP) of  the CRPF always sanitises the highway before the daily convoys pass the road to reach Srinagar. The ROP was on duty at the time of the attack.

Video clips reveal Kashmir’s new militancy

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 27

The Pampore ambush footage is the latest in a series of audio and video clips that have emerged in recent years giving an insight into how the militants are operating in the region. The videos, shot either by militants themselves or by the passers-by, go instantly viral on social networking sites.The police said the videos showing militants provide “visibility” to them but they also help the security forces in understanding the militancy.A police officer, in charge of a district in south Kashmir, said the videos provide limited real-time intelligence to the security agencies. “We do get to understand their behavioural signatures, how they walk, how they talk, how they can hide and their geographical location,” the official said.Earlier this month, a video, shot by a passer-by, had shown two militants escaping from the scene of an attack in Anantnag town. In the clip, the two militants are seen stopping a little distance from the site of the attack, where two policemen were gunned down, and firing back to cover their escape. The police later used a still image of the two militants from the video on its ‘wanted’ posters.Inspector General of Police, Kashmir zone, SJM Gilani, told The Tribune that these videos had helped militants but also gave an idea about them to the security agencies. When asked if the videos help militants in recruitment and propaganda efforts, Gilani said, “It does, of course.”The recruitment of local cadre, which had slowed down in the last decade, has registered an increase in the recent years. “It does give them (militants) visibility and that is probably what they are looking for,” Gilani said. “The content (of the videos) gives us an idea about what they are up to and we also analyse it in different ways and it does help us,” he said.In the videos that have appeared in public domain in recent years, the militants who were involved in the new wave of insurgency in the region could be seen patrolling through orchards in south Kashmir, preparing for ‘iftar,’ performing a ritualistic sacrifice and preparing meals.In a  video, shot by militants themselves in May 2013, a militant, injured while ambushing an Army patrol in a south Kashmir forest, is seen preparing for his last stand.In a video shot recently, a cop-turned-militant Naseer Pandit, who was killed in April this year, is seen training a group of militants.

Possibility of more terror attacks

• Security forces are on a high alert as there have been inputs about possibility of more attacks similar to the Pampore attack. The Saturday’s attack is believed to have been masterminded by Pakistani commander of Lashkar Abu Dujana. There are inputs that he may be planning more such attacks. The investigation into the attack has revealed that the two ‘fidayeen’ militants had infiltrated a day before carrying out the attack.

Pictures bring ‘visibility’

• The videos showing militants provide “visibility” to them
• Security agencies get to know militants’ behavioural signatures and their geographical location from the clips
• The first video came out on social media sites in 2013. It showed two ultras ambushing an Army vehicle