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The TRF came into existence in 2019 as a proxy outfit of LeT in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 and revocation of special status to J&K in August that year The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founded by Hafiz Saeed, has claimed the responsibility of killing at least 26 tourists in Pahalgam on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returned to Delhi on Wednesday morning cutting short his Saudi Arabia tour in the midst, held a high-level meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar at the airport over Pahalgam. Let us know understand what the TRF is, how many terror strikes it has carried out and who is the mastermind behind the Pahalgam attack.
What Is The Resistance Front? The TRF came into existence in 2019 as a proxy outfit of LeT in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 and revocation of special status to J&K in August that year. According to the police, based out of Karachi, after about six months of gaining traction online, TRF began taking shape on the ground as an amalgam of different outfits including Tehreek-e-Millat Islamia and Ghaznavi Hind, apart from the Lashkar, as per The Indian Express. “TRF is recruiting youth through online medium for furtherance of terrorist activities and has been also involved in carrying out propaganda on terror activities, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into J&K.
TRF is involved in psychological operations on social media platforms for inciting people of J&K to join terrorist outfits against the Indian state," a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification read. According to Indian officials, the name TRF was given by Pakistan to the LeT as Jaish-e-Mohammad and LeT have religious connotations and Islamabad did not want that. Hence, they opted for Resistance to give it a name in global politics.
The rebranding was done to suggest that TRF was a people’s movement rather than an outfit with a religious colour to its name. In January 2023, the MHA declared the TRF a “terrorist organisation" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for propaganda on terror activities, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir. This came months after TRF issued threats to journalists in Kashmir.
TRF commander Sheikh Sajjad Gul was designated a terrorist under the Fourth Schedule of TRF. “The activities of the TRF are detrimental for the security and sovereignty of India. A large number of cases have been registered against the members/associates of the TRF relating to planning of killing of security personnel and civilians of J&K, co-coordinating and transporting weapons to support proscribed terrorist organisations.
..," the MHA said.
Sheikh Sajjad claims that the group is against “local oppression" and has distanced itself from Pakistan or influence of Hafiz Saeed. How Many Attacks Have TRF Carried Out? The signs of TRF as a militant group became visible when the J&K police busted a module of over the ground workers (OGWs) in Sopore and Kupwara. The arrested OGWs revealed they were “recruiting youth for the new outfit".
In 2020, the TRF started taking responsibility for attacks in the Valley as opposed to the traditional organisations such as LeT, Jaish and Hizbul Mujahideen. According to a 2022 data, out of 172 terrorists that were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, 108 were linked to The Resistance Front. Another data showed that out of 100 new terrorists, 74 of them were recruited by the TRF.
The last major attack in which TRF was involved was Ganderbal terror attack. Seven people were gunned down in the North Kashmir’s region at a construction site last year. Who Is Pahalgam Mastermind Saifullah Khalid? Saifullah Khalid, also known as Saifullah Kasuri, is the deputy chief of LeT.
Reports say he maintains a close connection with Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed. Khalid, who gets full support of Pakistan, is a ‘favourite asset’ of army officers, and roams freely there. He is also infamous for giving several Jihadi speeches.
Khalid has been instigating the Pakistani Army and brainwashing the youth, reports added. According to reports, two months before the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Khalid had reached Kanganpur in Punjab, Pakistan, where a large battalion of the Pakistan Army is based. A Colonel of the Pakistan Army, Zahid Zarin Khattak, had called him there to give a Jihadi speech.
He there incited the Pakistan Army against India. Similarly, in a meeting held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khalid gave inflammatory speeches against India. “I promise that today is February 2, 2025.
We will try our best to capture Kashmir by February 2, 2026. In the coming days, our Mujahideen will intensify attacks." According to an intelligence report, hundreds of Pakistani youngsters had participated in a terrorist camp organised in the forests of Abbottabad last year.
It was held by LeT’s political wing PMML and SML. Khalid also attended it. He had selected youth from this camp for terrorist attacks, who were later trained for target killing.
After training the young men, they were infiltrated across the border with the help of Pakistani Army, as per reports..
