A new video of Burhan Wani's successor, Zakir Musa appeared on social media sites on Tuesday where the new Hizbul Mujahideen commander is making a video appeal to protestors "inciting them to pelt stones on security forces in the valley."
Donning an Afghani cap, wearing what appears to be a beige coat over a brown sweater, Musa speaks in Urdu, "When ever we are fighting with gun or throwing rocks, this should not be for nationalism but for Islam,"
A top J&K officer told India Today that terrorists often try to create a smokescreen, inciting locals to target forces during operations. But, this video leaves little ambiguity on terrorist using locals to hamper counter terror operations.
The unverified grainy video of Zakir Musa surfaced online, a tactics used by Burhan Wani, the poster boy of the Hizbul Mujahideen, till the time he was killed by security forces in July last year. Musa has warned the J&K police
and their informers of dire consequences. The militant commander has asked them to stop supporting the armed forces and other agencies and seek forgiveness and redemption.
In a 12-minute video, Musa termed Kashmiris serving in Police and the Indian Army as "kafirs". Upping the ante, Musa said the time for war has come and such 'kafirs' still have time to repent, adding that they have the names of all the informers.
Last month Army Chief Bipin Rawat had warned that the civilian protestors obstructing encounters, would be treated as 'over ground workers of militants' and would be dealt with 'harshly' and the army could go 'helter-skelter. Sources in security forces believe that at least in 2016 alone 25 counter militancy operations were affected as terrorists managed to flee.
The protests continued even after the warning from the Army Chief to which Musa praised the protestors for coming out in the defense of militants during encounters.