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Hindustan Times

Pahalgam attackers were outsiders, locals were forced to help: Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister (CM) Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the perpetrators of Pahalgam attack were from outside and the two locals who have been accused of harbouring the terrorists were forced to do that. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah flags off a cyclothon at Gulmarg in Baramulla on Tuesday. (ANI) The NIA had arrested the two men on Sunday for allegedly harbouring the terrorists who killed 26 civilians in Pahalgam on April 22, the agency said on Sunday, marking the first set of arrests in connection with the terror attack. 'The biggest thing is that there is no local involvement in the Pahalgam attack. Those who opened fire and killed 26 people were all from outside,' Omar told reporters in Gulmarg. The NIA had said that Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, both Pahalgam residents, knew about the terror affiliations of the three gunmen and despite that provided them with shelter, food and logistical support in the days leading up to the April 22 attack. The duo has also disclosed the identities of the three armed terrorists involved in the attack, and have also confirmed that they were Pakistani nationals affiliated to the proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the anti-terror agency has said. Abdullah said that the locals were coerced to provide help. 'As per NIA investigation, two such persons have been arrested who helped these people (terrorists) and, perhaps, NIA has also said that they were forced to provide help. They provided food and other things but they were coerced to do that,' he said. A local court in Jammu on Monday granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) five-day remand of the two the accused who were arrested. 'Let the investigation continue and then a chargesheet will be filed by the NIA,' Omar said. The Resistance Front, a proxy group for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba organisation, claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack. Indian agencies say the group is a front used by Pakistan to avoid international sanctions. India responded with Operation Sindoor on May 7, bombing nine terrorist camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in pre-dawn strikes that killed at least 100 militants. The operation sparked four days of cross-border fighting involving fighter jets, missiles and artillery.