Who are Kashmir Tigers? JeM's shadow militant outfit which carried out Kathua terror attack

The banned Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad's (JeM) shadow militant outfit Kashmir Tigers has made it to headlines after it claimed responsibility for the Kathua terror attack.

On July 8, at least fivearmy personnel, which included a Junior Commissioned Officer, lost their lives and several others were injured after the Indian Army convoy was attacked in the remote Machedi area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

The patrolling party was suddenly ambushed by the heavily armed terrorists who belonged to the Kashmir Tigers, according to the militant outfit.

All about Kashmir Tigers - the shadow militant outfit in J&K

The militant outfit Kashmir Tigers' name first made it to the headlines in January 2021 after the abrogation of Article 370 in India's Jammu and Kashmir.

The police said that this was a shadow group of the terror outfitJaish-e-Mohammad. It had claimed responsibility for carrying out a grenade attack in South Kashmir in June 2021.

In December 2021, the militant outfit attacked a police bus in Srinagar, in which three were killed and 11 others were injured.

After the scrapping of Article 370, various new militant outfits like Kashmir Tigers have been blamed by the police for the attacks.

Two of those - The Resistance Front (TRF) and People Against Fascist Forces (PAFF) - have remained prominent. Through time, it has appeared that outfits like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish have remained operative in the background.

According to the security forces, the nomenclature of these militant outfits has gone through a visible change. Earlier, the names had religious connotations, however, now they appear to be “secular” in nature.

“Pakistan is under pressure to increase the pitch of militancy in J&K but can’t ignore the FATF,” a police officer said, as quoted by The Indian Express.

Watch:J&K: Five Indian Army soldiers killed in ambush, terrorists ambush Army convoy in Kathua district

“Since the names of Lashkar and Jaish are associated with Pakistan and have a religious connotation, they decided to change the names. It is also an attempt to portray militancy as secular and indigenous," he added.

According to the police officials, these new outfits have been trying to present it like the Valley is filled with militants.

“On the ground, we have only around 150 to 200 militants. We have three or four major groups, which have different modules named differently,” said the police officer.

Speaking about the “secular” nature of J&K militancy, the police officials have hinted at the members of different outfits being essentially the same.

(With inputs from agencies)