The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for gunning down a policeman in Srinagar on Sunday. Both the state police and the government have denied the presence of the Islamic State in Kashmir, but this is the second time in three months that the terrorist group has claimed responsibility for an attack on policemen in Srinagar.

Police constable Farooq Ahmed Yatoo was killed when militants fired at him in Srinagar’s Soura locality. Yatoo was posted as a guard outside separatist leader Fazal Haq Qureshi’s home. The militants escaped with his rifle.

The Islamic State’s mouthpiece, the Al Amaq News Agency, on Monday claimed the attack. “Assassinated an element of police in firing near city of Srinagar in Kashmir yesterday,” the agency said, according to The Indian Express.

The police said they were investigating the attack and the Islamic State’s claim. “I do not know about this claim,” Director General of Police, SP Vaid told DNA. “We are still investigating the case. We are not clear who has attacked.”

Soon after the shooting, Vaid asked policemen to be more careful as the police were fighting a “proxy war” in the state.

“We have lost another precious life when Constable Farooq Ahmad was martyred today in Srinagar,” he wrote on Twitter. “Be more careful boys, it’s the proxy war that we are fighting in Jammu & Kashmir.”

In November 2017, Al Amaq claimed the attack on a police party in Srinagar’s Zakura area. A policeman and a militant were killed.