LeT proxy behind Pahalgam attack claims responsibility for Kulgam shooting; 1 dead

The Resistance Front (TRF), the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) proxy behind the 2025 Pahalgam attack, has claimed responsibility for the shooting of two migrant labourers at Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam on Friday evening.

Pakistan was blamed for the Pahalgam attack of April 22, 2025, which led to the deaths of 26 people, which also sparked India's response in Operation Sindoor in May that year, and days of hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

While the indiscriminate attack at a brick kiln in Kelam killed one of the labourers, the other has been injured.

Officials told PTI that both labourers had initially sustained injuries in the attack.

Identified as Chhattisgarh natives Deepak and Bhupinder, local media reports noted that Deepak succumbed to his wounds before he could be transported to a hospital, while Bhupinder was referred to the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital in Anantnag.

Following the attack, security forces—including the army, CRPF, and the Jammu and Kashmir Police— rushed to the spot, cordoned off the area, and launched a search operation to track down the suspected terrorists.

The search operation is still underway, with security forces conducting a door-to-door sweep around the area.

“We are working on multiple leads. The attackers will not be spared,” a senior police officer told local media outlet Good Morning Kashmir.

This comes just days after terrorists shot a police officer in Anantnag on July 23, who died soon after, due to critical bullet wounds.

The afternoon attack saw a terrorist open fire at J&K Police head constable Ashiq Hussain at the Lal Chowk market in Anantnag—said to be the first such terrorist attack since the Pahalgam massacre of April 22, 2025, which killed 26 people.

Attached to the 3rd battalion of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP), Hussain was part of a team deployed to secure the 'Lal Chowk-Kokernag axis', Kashmir IGP VK Birdi said, as per a Times of India report.

Though Hussain's team retaliated, the terrorist allegedly escaped by blending into the crowd.

This led to a coordinated operation carried out by security forces which led to the detention of nearly 700 suspected over ground workers (OGWs) for questioning and verification.

Similar counter-terrorism crackdowns in Budgam, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Shopian, Kulgam, and Anantnag have also led to hundreds of OGWs detained for "sustained questioning and verification".