Story behind two brothers killed in Rawalakot ‘encounter’

RAWLAKOT: Azad Jammu and Kashmir police recently announced that they had killed four militants in an encounter in a forest in Rawalakot district, including one who was allegedly the head of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the region.

According to the police, the deceased were identified as Zarnosh Naseem, his younger brother, Jibran Naseem and Ulfat Ali from Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin district. The identity of the fourth alleged remained unknown.

AJK police said two policemen were also killed in the shootout with the suspected militants.

Muhammad Naseem, the father of Zarnosh and Jibran, talking to the BBC Urdu, alleged that his sons had been under pressure from the police for some time, which forced them to go into hiding. He said they were his only two sons and vowed to pursue the case till he gets justice.

The funeral prayers for the two brothers were held on Thursday (May 29) in their ancestral village in Bagh district.

During the funeral, a protest was also held demanding a judicial inquiry into the incident.

A spokesperson for the Kashmir government told the BBC Urdu that the operation was “completely transparent”, but added that if the bereaved families had concerns, further investigation could be conducted.

When and where did the incident occur?

SSP Rawalakot Riaz Mughal said that Kashmir police had been tracking the alleged militants for some time and were attempting to arrest them.

He said the police recently received a tip-off that Zarnosh Naseem and his group were planning a major militant attack in the region.

According to SSP Mughal, on May 28, the police learned that the suspects were hiding in a cave near the forests of Rawalakot. He said that after a cordon, the police raided the cave and asked the suspects to surrender their weapons and turn themselves in. However, he claimed, one of the suspects, Jibran Naseem, allegedly threw a hand grenade at the police, killing one official on the spot and injuring another who died in hospital during treatment.

He said that the suspects then opened fire, injuring several other policemen. In retaliatory fire, all four suspects in the cave were killed, he said.

‘Zarnosh wanted to establish Taliban bases in Kashmir’

Following the operation, AJK Police Inspector General Rana Abdul Jabbar held a press conference, claiming that Zarnosh Naseem had ties to the TTP in Afghanistan and was trying to establish their foothold in Kashmir.

He said that the group was planning large-scale terrorist activities in the region.

According to IG Jabbar, police had consistently received intelligence that Zarnosh and his group were in contact with a person in Afghanistan named Dr Rauf and another individual named Ghazi Shehzad.

It is noteworthy that Ghazi Shehzad was among those who escaped from Rawalakot jail last year.

According to AJK police, Shehzad was facing serious criminal charges.

IG Jabbar claimed that Ghazi Shehzad had fled to Afghanistan and joined the TTP, and that Zarnosh was acting under his instructions.

He further alleged that Zarnosh and his group were involved in the October 27, 2024, attack on a police checkpoint in Bagh district that killed one officer. The group was also allegedly involved in another armed attack on a police patrol in the same area that injured several officers, the AJK police chief claimed.

He said that the police had arrested some associates of the group in recent days, and during interrogation, it was revealed that Zarnosh was leading the group.

Speaking about the TTP’s presence in AJK, Police IG Jabbar said: “An investigation is under way into the presence of sleeper cells and identifying those who may have been assisting the deceased.”

‘First-ever TTP link case in the region’

Local journalist Naseer Chaudhry said that this was the first time authorities in AJK linked such an operation to the TTP, adding that no similar incident had been reported before in the region.

AJK former chief justice and attorney general of supreme court Justice (retd) Manzoor Hussain Gilani, who closely observes crime trends in the area, said: “This is the first time I’ve heard of a TTP presence in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It doesn’t appear that Taliban are present here in large numbers.”

He noted that police had repeatedly contacted Zarnosh’s family in the past, urging them to convince their sons to surrender.

Kashmir police have also claimed that one of the deceased was a suicide bomber.

Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq, claimed that among those killed in the Rawalakot operation was “highly wanted terrorist Ulfat Ali,” who was allegedly involved in multiple suicide attacks in Pakistan.

In response to questions raised after the incident, the AJK prime minister said: “Tell me, what were these people doing in a forest with suicide vests and advanced weaponry?”

Who Was Zarnosh Naseem?

According to locals and family members, Zarnosh Naseem received his early education in Bagh and later completed an MPhil from the International Islamic University in Islamabad.

During his studies at the Islamic University, Zarnosh also travelled to Afghanistan.

His father Raja Naseem confirmed that his son had indeed gone to Afghanistan.

Zarnosh’s younger brother, Jibran Naseem, was studying Artificial Intelligence at a private university in Muzaffarabad but had discontinued his education some time ago.

According to Abid Siddique, chief editor of the local newspaper “Kashmir Dharti”, Zarnosh Naseem’s name first came up during the 2021 AJK elections, when Zarnosh threw a shoe at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur during a campaign.

Following the incident, he was arrested but later released after protests were held in his support. During his release, local residents welcomed him with garlands.

Zarnosh later explained that he had thrown the shoe because Gandapur had offended the sentiments of Kashmiris in a speech.

In a video from the time of his release — which was confirmed by his family and locals — Zarnosh is seen addressing a crowd, saying: “If this had been a personal matter, people would not have gathered in such large numbers. But this was a matter of Kashmir’s dignity, which is why the public turned out in force.”

After that incident, Zarnosh Naseem’s name became more widely known. His name also came up after an attack on a police checkpoint in Shujaabad, Bagh district. “The police tried to arrest him multiple times, but he evaded capture,” said Abid Siddique.

Over time, Zarnosh’s name kept emerging in different incidents. Police claim that during this period, his brother Jibran Naseem also became one of his facilitators.

Rejecting the allegations against his sons, Zarnosh’s father submitted an application to AJK police, demanding legal action and an investigation.

A video posted by Zarnosh on social media last year has also gone viral. His father and other relatives confirmed its authenticity.

In the video, Zarnosh could be heard as saying that he was summoned to a police station, where he was pressured to act against the Kashmir Action Committee. He also claimed that the cases filed against him were baseless.

Raja Naseem said his sons were religious and known for helping locals. “The whole area can vouch for their character. A large number of people attended their funeral — not because of me, but because of my sons’ morals and conduct.”

Raja Naseem claimed that Zarnosh had previously been forcibly disappeared and was only brought back into public view after protests.

Police, however, maintained that Zarnosh was not abducted but had gone into hiding to evade arrest in the wake of multiple criminal cases.

According to his father: “Many cases were filed against him, and he avoided appearing before the police out of fear of being disappeared again. To arrest him and pressure him, the police raided Jibran’s university, which led him to drop out.”

He also said that he had been out of touch with both his sons for some time.

“I had only two sons,” Raja Naseem added. “Now the sole purpose of my life is to seek justice, and I will go to the end of the earth to get it.” The third person killed alongside Zarnosh and Jibran was Ulfat Ali. His brother, Muhammad Akram, said that he had not been in contact with Ulfat for about a year and declined to provide further deta