In the wake of a devastating blast near Delhi’s Red Fort that killed 12 people, a video has emerged from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) depicting what seems to be a celebratory gathering of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. The footage, dated Wednesday, shows militants honoring their commanders with garlands and flower petals, sparking urgent investigations into a potential connection with the Delhi terror attack.
The video captures a mood of apparent festivity among the LeT members, prompting Indian security agencies to probe the significance of this celebration. The timing is particularly concerning, and authorities are working to ascertain what exactly the terrorists were celebrating and if it is directly related to the recent violence in Delhi. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators of the Delhi attack.
Intelligence sources have identified Kotli in PoK as the location of this meeting, which reportedly included senior LeT leaders Abdul Rauf and Rizwan Hanif. Rizwan Hanif holds a crucial position as the deputy chief (Naib Ameer) of LeT’s PoK unit and is understood to facilitate communication between Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operatives. This connectivity is vital as investigations into the Delhi blast have pointed towards individuals associated with JeM.
Further complicating the picture, Hanif commands the Hilal-ul-Haq combat brigade, a joint venture between LeT and JeM, operating under the guise of the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF). The presence of such key figures and the evident celebratory mood at this PoK meeting are considered highly significant. Investigators are meticulously analyzing the video and related intelligence to determine its relevance to the ongoing Delhi blast investigation and understand the broader network of cross-border terrorism.