65 Foreign Terrorists From 3 Outfits Active in J&K, Say Officials

At least 65 foreign terrorists hailing from three different terror outfits are currently active in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), security officials said on Wednesday, as the focus of counter-terror operations in the restive region moved to infiltration in the aftermath of the brazen Pahalgam terror attack.

- Prawesh Lama

NEW DELHI:

Officials said there was a slow but steady uptick in the number of foreign terrorists—the number was 59 in the first week of March—and admitted that combating the infiltration of Pakistan-based terrorists in small groups was a developing new challenge.

The current break-up of the outfits to which these foreign terrorists belong was not available. But according to the last updated record in March 2025, 35 of the 59 foreign terrorists belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, whose proxy organization The Resistance Front took responsibility for the Pahalgam attack. Another 21 were from Jaish-e-Mohammed and three from the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). Though HM is a Kashmir-based proscribed outfit, the three terrorists are Pakistan residents, show records of security forces.