New Delhi: The Union home ministry on Tuesday denied any presence of terror outfit Islamic State in the Kashmir Valley, saying the militant group did not have any “physical infrastructure or manpower” in the region. “ISIS does not exist in the Valley,” a senior ministry official said.
The Centre’s clarification comes in wake of the claims made by IS that it was behind the killing of a policeman, Farooq Ahmad Yatoo, on Sunday. “ISIS has been trying to get foothold in the country, particularly in the Valley. But so far they do not have presence except trying to influence some youth with the use of social media which is being regularly monitored by our intelligence agencies. By claiming the responsibility for killing the policemen in the Valley IS wants to send out a message that it is active in the region which however, is not the case,” the official added.
Sources claimed that it was probably Lashka-e-Tayyaba rather than the ISIS which could be behind the incident as one of its main operatives, Esha Fazali, who was earlier with the Hizbul Mujahideen was the prime suspect in the case.
