The terrorists behind the deadly Pahalgam attack may have entered Kashmir well in advance — participating in several attacks and scouting sites over the past 1.5 years. Details pieced together by security personnel indicates that at least one of the attackers had also been part of the Z-morh tunnel attack that took place in Sonmarg last year and left seven people dead.
According to senior officials quoted by NDTV, the terrorists had reached Pahalgam on April 15 and scouted at least four locations before the attack. Alternative strike locations had included the picturesque Baisaran Valley, Aru Valley, the local amusement park as well as Betaab Valley. They were however deterred from attacking these areas due to heightened security arrangements in the zones. At least four over ground workers had played crucial roles in assisting the terrorists with recon and logistical support.
The terror module which left 26 people dead and many others injured last week is also believed to have played a role in previous attacks. According to an Indian Express report, two Pakistani terrorists who participated in the recent attack are believed to have entered Kashmir through the Samba-Kathua region more than a year earlier. They were identified by the Anantnag Police as Ali Bhai alias Talha and Hashim Musa alias Suleiman. Local Lashkar-e-Taiba recruit Adil Hussain Thoker is believed to be the third Pahalgam attacker. Their identities were confirmed using information from eyewitnesses, data available with security forces as well as footage recorded by tourists and local guides.
Sources however told IE that eyewitnesses had identified Musa from a photo that had been recovered from the phone of slain local LeT terrorist Junaid Ahmed Bhat. The latter had been captured on CCTV footage while perpetrating the Z-morh attack in October. Ali Bhai is also believed to be part of the same group.
A horrifying attack along the Srinagar-Leh National Highway had claimed the lives of seven employees of an infrastructure company, including a local doctor. The attack at the campsite of the workers engaged in the almost-completed 6.5-km Z-Morh tunnel in Ganderbal district had been the first such incident at the site of a major infrastructure project in the past three decades of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.