Killers were outsiders, no local involvement: Omar

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said there was no local involvement in April’s Pahalgam terror attack and those who killed 26 people were outsiders (foreigners).

Omar’s statement comes a few days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two men from the Valley for allegedly harbouring the terrorists responsible for the April 22 attack.

Talking to reporters at Gulmarg on the sidelines of an event, Omar said the “biggest thing is that there was no local involvement in the attack.”

“Those who opened fire and killed the 26 people were outsiders (foreigners). Now, according to the NIA investigation, two people have been arrested who helped them (attackers),” he said.

He added, “And maybe, the NIA also said that they (the two arrested) were forced to help them (attackers). They gave them food, but they were forced to help them. Let the investigation continue. After that, the chargesheet will be presented by the NIA.”

Omar also said he has no objections if the Legislative Assembly has to be dissolved after statehood is restored to Jammu and Kashmir. “I have even read in a newspaper that for the restoration of statehood, Assembly elections will have to be held. Do it. Who stopped it? We are not worried about our seats,” he said.

To a question about the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, Omar said the sooner the ceasefire is done, the better it is. “It’s been 11 days and there has been a lot of destruction. We want the ceasefire to be implemented as soon as possible,” he said.