New Target Of Terror

On October 20, as dusk fell in the Gagangir area of central Kashmir's Ganderbal district, terrorists opened fire on workers returning to their camp from the Z-Morh tunnel construction site, killing six of them as well as a doctor, and injuring several others.

- Kaleem Geelani

The workers-mostly migrant-were engaged on a project of strategic value. The tunnel connects Sonamarg with Kangan town on the Srinagar-Leh highway, a vital supply route to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

The incident marks the first assault on a key infrastructure project in the five years since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. It also occurred just four days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assumed leadership of the first Union Territory government. "The people have taken part in elections with enthusiasm with the hope that there will be improvement in their lives," he said, after visiting the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar where the injured were being treated. "We will not step back from that mission. We will not allow the development here to be stopped. If there are shortcomings in the security grid, we will remove them. I spoke to the DGP and we would advise all big projects not to take security issues lightly." Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has directed authorities to secure vital infrastructure projects across J&K. He emphasised putting in place a multi-pronged, foolproof mechanism for coordination with project implementing agencies to prevent security breaches.