The recovery of a Steyr AUG rifle, commonly used by militaries worldwide, from two terrorists killed in Kupwara on Thursday has heightened security concerns. Officials are alarmed that weapons and fighters from the North-West Frontier Province and Afghanistan may have now infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir.

The unusual recovery in Kashmir has also triggered speculations of more such weapons being discovered.

News18 previously reported that senior security officials had warned about Pakistan potentially using Taliban fighters, along with arms and military equipment left behind by US-led forces in Afghanistan, to destabilise Jammu & Kashmir.

According to data from the Border Security Force, the warning appears to be materialising in the former state. Since 2021, there has been a year-on-year increase in the recovery of weapons, including AK-series firearms, as well as a rise in the recovery of IEDs.

The recent recovery of American-made M4 carbine assault rifles in Kathua supports the suspicions of Indian agencies that weapons left behind by the US Army after their 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan have now reached Kashmir.

News18 reported this week that last year, central intelligence agencies received information indicating that the logistics, arms, and ammunition used in the Poonch attack, which killed five RR jawans, originated from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The local police investigation into the Poonch attack also suspected that the bullets used in the attack were from Afghanistan, left by US forces after their departure.

According to a Defence Department report published last August, over $7.1 billion in US-funded military equipment was in the possession of the Afghan government when it fell to the Taliban in August 2021. While more than half of this equipment comprised ground vehicles, the report noted it also included over 316,000 weapons valued at nearly $512 million, along with ammunition and other accessories.

“At least 78 aircraft worth $923.3 million, 9,524 air-to-ground munitions valued at $6.54 million, over 40,000 vehicles, more than 3,00,000 weapons, and nearly all night vision, surveillance, communications, and biometric equipment provided to the [Afghan defense forces] were left behind,” a report published by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in February 2023 said, citing Department of Defense data.

Lieutenant Colonel Emron Musavi, an Indian Army spokesperson in Srinagar, told NBC News earlier that terrorists from both groups were sent to Afghanistan to fight alongside or train the Taliban before the US withdrew from the war-torn nation. “It can be safely assumed that they have access to the weapons left behind,” he added.

Ajai Sahni, an author on counterterrorism who serves as executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management, a think tank in New Delhi, says JeM and LeT could be purchasing US weapons from the Taliban in Afghanistan, “where the United Nations says both groups have bases, or through smugglers in Pakistan”, reported NBC News.

Although data compiled by J&K Police indicates significant progress in controlling terror activities and eliminating terrorists, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently stated in Parliament, “A robust security and Intelligence grid is in place to thwart any attempt of terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. Further steps taken by the government to prevent terrorist incidents and to safeguard the lives of civilians in the valley include group security in the form of static guards, round-the-clock checking at strategic points, night patrolling and area domination, identification of vulnerable spots, and security arrangements through appropriate deployment of police, army, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), and intensified Cordon and Search Operations.”

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