The People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a suspected newly formed front of the massive terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the Poonch terror attack which led to the death of 5 Indian soldiers on Thursday. As per reports, the ambush took place around 3:45 pm when two Army vehicles, en route to support a cordon-and-search operation, were ambushed at a blind curve near Dhatyar Morh.
PAFF: Jaish's new wing?
According to several security agencies, PAFF possibly represents a newly formed wing working under the shadow of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). It is also suspected that the terror outfit has been brought into existence by Pakistan's spy agency ISI following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
It is noteworthy that the newly formed terror outfit PAFF has claimed responsibility for every major terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in recent months.
As per media reports, several intelligence inputs point to the common possibility which suggests that Pakistan's ISI has infiltrated highly trained terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri and Poonch districts in a bid to conduct targeted attacks on security forces, often in remote and isolated areas where the Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and paid agents also play a pivotal role.
Experts said that the members of PAFF might be using helmet cameras which hold striking resemblance to the ones used by trained soldiers to record their attacks and then using the recorded footage to spread propaganda.
About the US-made M4 carbine assault rifles
After Thursday's brutal ambush, the PAFF terrorists took to social media to release pictures from the attack site in Poonch where they specifically flexed the use of sophisticated US-made M4 carbine assault rifles.
During 1980s, these lightweight, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine rifles were manufactured in the United States which were primarily used as the infantry weapon of the US Armed Forces. Later, 80 other countries reportedly included them in their defense weapons arsenal.
These assault rifles are primarily designed for close-quarters combat and are known to be extremely maneuverable alongside being unquestionably accurate, reliable, and well-suited for a variety of combat situations.
Retaliatory CASO launched by Army
Retaliating yesterday's ambush, the security forces Friday launched a massive cordon and search operation (CASO) in the forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district and a National Investigation Agency team also visited there.
The General Officer Commanding (GoC), XVI Corps, Lt Gen Sandeep Jain visited Ground Zero and reviewed the situation with top army and police officers, officials said.
"Indian Army and White Knight Corps salute the bravery and supreme sacrifice of four soldiers in Surankote yesterday while fighting the scourge of terrorism", White Knight Corps, or XVI Corps, wrote on X.
An official said aerial monitoring using helicopters is also being conducted and sniffer dogs have been pressed into service to track down the terrorists who ambushed two Army vehicles in the area Thursday afternoon.
