The funeral of Habib Tahir, one of the terrorists behind the April 22 strike who was killed in Jammu & Kashmir, was held in his village in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) last week – in yet another incident that proves Pakistan’s complicity in the Pahalgam terror attack and cross-border terrorism.
Earlier, members of the Pakistan Army had attended the funeral of terrorists who were killed in Operation Sindoor that was launched by India to avenge the killing of 26 tourists, including a Nepali citizen, in the Pahalgam strike. The terrorists killed were part of a banned group, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) led by terrorist Hafiz Saeed.
According to sources, Tahir was reportedly recruited and trained by Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the LeT, had claimed responsibility for the attack and was recently tagged as a terrorist organisation by the United States for its role.
Tahir was among three Pahalgam terrorists shot dead in an encounter by security forces at Harwan in Srinagar on July 28. Srinagar Senior Superintendent Of Police GV Sundeep Chakravarty confirmed the terrorists belonged to LeT and were killed during Operation Mahadev.
Videos and photos available on social media showed local residents in PoK’s Kuiyaan village gathering for the final prayers for Tahir on July 30.
The sources said the funeral, however, turned tense and took an unexpected turn when a local LeT commander, Rizwan Hanif, arrived with armed men despite the terror group being barred by Tahir’s family. A confrontation erupted when Hanif’s nephew allegedly threatened the mourners with a gun, leading to public outrage. Hanif and his associates were eventually forced to leave the spot.
The resistance comes amid signs of a shift in state policy, with the Pakistani police taking action against events organised by terrorists and reduced public activity by such groups.
In May, India released the names of top Pakistani officials who attended the funeral of LeT terrorists, who were gunned down during Operation Sindoor. Officials said the funeral of terrorists killed in Muridke in Pakistan’s Punjab province was led by Abdul Rauf, a LeT commander who is a specially designated global terrorist by the United States.
Muridke is home to the headquarters of the LeT and is known as the “terror nursery” of Pakistan. Reports said the Pahalgam terrorists were trained at this spot.
Last month, Pakistan claimed it had “dismantled” the LeT and any effort to link the Pahalgam terror attack with the defunct terrorist network was against reality. Stating that the investigation into the Pahalgam attack is “still inconclusive,” it said, “any linkage with LeT, a defunct organisation banned in Pakistan, belies ground realities”.
