In Shopian, posters of new militant group

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 23

Two weeks after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, a photo showing a group of 11 suspected militants in Army fatigues has surfaced in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, sending the security forces into a tizzy.

The police in Srinagar say they are ascertaining the authenticity of the photo in which 11 suspected Hizbul Mujahideeen militants, almost all new and hitherto unknown faces, are seen posing with assault rifles for a group photo at some undisclosed location in south Kashmir.

The latest photo of the militants has not appeared on social media sites, but on posters pasted in various areas of Shopian. In the posters, the militants have attempted to adopt the pose of Burhan and his associates in the group photo which went viral last year.

The photo is printed on a Hizbul Mujahideen letterhead, with an Urdu couplet announcing the arrival of the new group. “The photo of the militants is similar to Burhan’s group photo with 10 associates, which he had posted on social media sites last year,” said a Shopian resident.

The identity of a majority of militants in the latest photo is not known yet. A security official said they were trying to find out whether or not the photo was genuine. “We are looking at the photo to check if it is genuine or has been photoshopped. We are trying to establish the identity of militants in the photo,” he said.

Shopian SP Shailendra Kumar Mishra said they had not seen any such poster yet. “I will be able to say something only when we see the poster,” he said. Posters and the photo have come at a time when Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is in the Valley to review the situation following Burhan’s killing.