Kashmir down to its last local terrorist as manhunt for Latief Bhat intensifies, report says

New Delhi: Security forces in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) are now hunting just one active local terrorist, a dramatic fall from the 50 to 60 who operated in the region five years ago, according to a Hindustan Times report citing records maintained by security agencies. The man in their sights is Kulgam resident Mohammed Lateef Bhat, widely identified in police circles as Latief Bhat, who has twice slipped through security cordons in recent months.

Officials attribute the collapse in local recruitment to years of sustained counterterror operations alongside National Investigation Agency (NIA) probes into terror financing and narcoterrorism networks. Roughly 40 to 50 foreign terrorists, mostly Pakistani nationals, continue to operate across the valley even as local participation has all but disappeared.

Bhat, according to security officials, joined the Kashmir Revolution Army – described as a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot – in November 2025, after leaving his family home earlier that year. He is believed to be receiving shelter and logistical help from local sympathizers as he moves through south Kashmir.

Bhat first slipped a joint security operation in Anantnag in late December 2025. A senior security force officer, quoted by Hindustan Times, said the operation had been triggered by intelligence suggesting Bhat and his associate Zakir Ahmed Ganei were plotting to disrupt the Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage.

He escaped again on July 8 during Operation Sheruwali, a joint exercise by the Army, J&K Police and the Central Reserve Police Force in Anantnag. Ganei, described as a category A Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, was killed in that encounter, but Bhat – his fellow Kulgam resident – got away.

Twin attacks in 10 days

Police sources say Bhat has since carried out two attacks independently, using an AK-47 assault rifle. On July 22, he allegedly shot dead head constable Ashiq Hussain in the Lal Chowk area of Anantnag while the officer was on Amarnath Yatra security duty.

On Friday, as reported by RNA Media, the same gunman is suspected of killing two migrant brick-kiln workers, identified as Deepak Ratre and Bhupendra Bhaina, in Kilam village, Kulgam. Sources cited by Republic World said the victims were asked their religion before being shot, a detail that has heightened concern over the sectarian targeting of outsiders in the valley.

The Kulgam killing was the first attack on seasonal migrant labour since October 2024, and the second terror strike in the region within ten days. Bhat is reported to have been aided in planning the attacks by an associate named Waris Shah, who allegedly provided logistical support and carried out reconnaissance.

Intelligence Bureau assessments, as reported by several media outlets, suggest both attacks were the work of the Resistance Front, a proxy outfit that Indian agencies describe as an extension of Lashkar-e-Taiba. A social media post claiming responsibility on behalf of an entity called the United Liberation Council is being treated by investigators as a deliberate diversion.

Officials believe Bhat is deliberately keeping a low profile between strikes to evade capture while continuing a campaign of low-intensity, hit-and-run attacks across south Kashmir. The stated objective, according to intelligence assessments, is twofold: to signal that Lashkar-e-Taiba remains relevant in the valley, and to reinvigorate a recruitment pipeline that has largely dried up.

In response to the killings, J&K authorities are moving to relocate migrant labourers into secured clusters rather than scattered work sites, a measure aimed at reducing their exposure to targeted attacks. The steep decline in local recruitment – from dozens of active terrorists five years ago to just one today – marks one of the more significant security gains in the valley in recent years.

It also leaves security agencies with an unusual problem of a single, mobile, well-armed operative who knows the terrain intimately and has already outrun two major operations. Whether Bhat is caught quickly or continues to evade the net may say as much about the durability of Kashmir’s terror networks as the raw numbers do.