Lashkar offshoot denies role in Pahalgam attack, blames Indian intelligence for false claim
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The Resistance Force (TRF), an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, has come out denying its involvement in the recent terror attack in Pahalgam that killed at least 26 people and left many injured, accusing Indian intelligence agencies of orchestrating a false claim of responsibility through a coordinated cyber intrusion to malign the Kashmiri resistance.
Soon after the attack, Indian authorities claimed that the TRF had taken responsibility for the terror attacks. Not only did the TRF deny its link to the attack, but it also accused Indian forces of blaming the TRF for terror attacks that had occurred on previous occasions in past years.
Days after initially being linked to the attack, TRF posted a notice on X stating that attributing the attack to the group was “false, hasty, and part of an orchestrated campaign to malign the Kashmiri resistance.”
TRF said that “shortly after the attack in Pahalgam, a brief and unauthorised message was posted from one of our digital platforms,” and it claimed that “after an internal audit, we have reason to believe it was the result of a coordinated cyber intrusion, a familiar tactic in the Indian state’s digital warfare arsenal.”
The group alleged that the message claiming responsibility was not authorised and accused Indian agencies of manipulating information to target the Kashmiri resistance movement.
In the notice, TRF drew parallels with past incidents, saying, “In 2000, Indian forces orchestrated the Chattisinghpura massacre, brutally killing 35 Sikhs – blamed it on ‘militants’, and used to justify military crackdowns in our land,” and it added that “in 2001, the Indian Parliament attack led to massive troop mobilisation, later marred by claims of internal orchestration.”
TRF further alleged that “most recently, in 2019, the Pulwama attack was blamed on Pakistan, right before Indian elections, yet former Indian officials like Satya Pal Malik exposed lapses and political cover-ups.”