J&K police confirms ISIS presence, centre denies

The Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have issued contradicting statements regarding the presence of ISIS in the valley. Whereas the Union Home Ministry denied ISIS’ presence in J&K, the state police chief soon revealed that ISIS was not only present but had also carried out two attacks in the Kashmir valley.

J&K Director General of Police S.P. Vaid told the media that ISIS has its presence in the valley and described the phenomenon as a “worrying sign”. Vaid’s statement followed a claim made by A’maq, the propaganda wing of ISIS, that it had carried out an attack on a police constable Farooq Ahmed in Srinagar. 

The home ministry and the state’s home department had earlier denied the presence of ISIS when the media had reported in November 2017 that an ISIS terrorist Mugees Ahmed was killed in the Zokura gunfight. The state’s CID department, however, maintained that although ISIS flags were being carried by teenagers during protests, the terror group did not have any presence in the valley.

The police and the security agencies are, however, confident that ISIS doesn’t have a massive recruitment or infrastructure base in Kashmir. Vaid told the media that the two attacks carried out by ISIS in Kashmir could be lone-wolf attacks.