Group photo of Hizb recruits goes viral

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 1

A group photo of mostly new militant recruits of the Hizbul Mujahideen has gone viral on social media in Kashmir, sending security agencies into a tizzy.

The security agencies had recently compiled a list of nearly three dozen missing boys from Kashmir who were feared to have joined militant ranks this year.

The intriguing feature of the picture is that all the militants posing in the photograph are local Kashmiri boys, an evidence suggesting that local youth are increasingly taking to arms and joining militant ranks.

In one of the group photos, uploaded on a Facebook page, 11 young militants in Army fatigue with assault rifles are seen posing for a picture at some unknown area in south Kashmir.

While there are some militants in the picture who have been active in south Kashmir for quite some time, majority of them are new recruits.

“This is a new breed of young militants who are not worried about disclosing their identities. It is a concerning trend,” said a police officer in south Kashmir.

“While a top Hizb militant Burhan Muzaffar is also in the picture, the others are new recruits who have joined the group,” the officer said.

Interestingly, a police man who was posted at the residence of Minister for Public Works Altaf Bukhari and had fled along with two AK-47 rifles in April too is seen in the picture.

Soon after the policeman had fled with the rifle, the Hizbul Mujahideen had claimed that he had joined the group.

A police officer in Srinagar said this year nearly three dozen youth had joined militancy and most of them belonged to south Kashmir. Most of these youth have joined the oldest militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, the officer said.

“Even as the militancy is at its lowest ebb in Srinagar, more local boys are joining militancy. It is a disturbing trend,” he added.