Yasin Malik, along with Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Wani and Javed Ahmad Mir, formed the core group — dubbed the "HAJY" group — of the JKLF militants returning with arms and training received in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. They were said to have been "stunned" by the enthusiastic response to their call for independence in the Kashmir Valley. They waged a guerrilla war with the Indian security forces, kidnapping Rubiya Sayeed, the daughter of Indian Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and targeting attacks on the government and security officials.