Viral Video: Houses of Lashkar terrorists believed to be behind Pahalgam terror attack ‘demolished’ in Kashmir

Pahalgam Terror Attack: The house of two of the three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, believed to be behind the Pahalgam Terror attack, has been ‘demolished’, according to reports. 

The first house belonged to Asif Fauji alias Asif Sheikh in South Kashmir's Tral. The second was of Adil Hussain Thokar from Bijbehara block in Anantnag district in south Kashmir, according to news agency PTI.

While some reports suggested that the houses were destroyed by a blast, others from Kashmir said security forces were carrying out search operations at these residences of two LeT terrorists when explosives, already planted inside the houses, detonated.

The Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday released a set of sketches of the terrorists who were involved in the Pahalgam attacks that killed 26 people. The police said the sketches were made based on eyewitness accounts.

The officials said the sketches are of Asif Fauji or Asif Sheikh, Suleman Shah, and Abu Talha. The three terrorists also had code names — Moosa, Yunus and Asif — and were involved in terror-related incidents in Poonch.

The Pahalgam terrorist attack was carried out in the fabled Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam on April 22, a day when United States Vice President JD Vance was in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia.

The Resistance Front claimed responsibility

The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, is believed to be behind Tuesday's attack, a claim that Mint has not been able to verify so far. Some reports even suggested that a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, Saifullah Kasuri, alias Khalid, is believed to be the ‘mastermind’ of the attack. There has not been any official word on these claims yet.

The Pahalgam attack comes a week after Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir sparked a row when he said Kashmir is Islamabad’s 'jugular vein.’ The remark evoked a strong objection from New Delhi.

“Our stance is absolutely clear, it was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle,” General Munir said in Islamabad while addressing the Overseas Pakistani Convention on April 16.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted to General Munir’s statement last week saying, “how can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? This is a Union Territory of India. Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied territories by that country.”

(With agency inputs)