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Close aide of Kashmir al-Qaeda cell chief Zakir Musa among six militants killed in encounter
The six killed are said to have belonged to the militant group Ansar Gazwat ul Hind, led by terrorist Zakir Musa.
Six militants, including a senior leader of an outfit affiliated to the al Qaeda, were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday, the police said.
They were part of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, led by wanted militant Zakir Musa, and carried out several attacks on security establishments and civilians, the police said.
The police and the army launched a joint operation in Pulwama’s Awantipora area in the morning?after inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police spokesperson said.
As the forces were conducting searches, the militants opened fire, he said, adding that the securitymen retaliated. The militants were killed in the ensuing gunfight. All of them were residents of south Kashmir’s Tral area.
Army spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession.
Inspector general of police SP Pani said, “All the six terrorists were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities.”
One of those killed was identified as Soliha Akhoon, who was acting as the deputy chief of the outfit and believed to be an aide of Musa.
Musa, who is heading the group, was previously with the homegrown Hizbul Mujahideen and an associate of Burhan Wani, whose encounter killing in 2016 triggered widespread protests in the Valley.
According to government data, over 80 securitymen, including 44 state police personnel and 33 army soldiers, have been killed in the state in 2018. Data also shows 238 militants, including 12 top commanders, died in encounters — the highest since 2010.
After Saturday’s encounter, mobile services were suspended in Pulwama. Train services between south Kashmir’s Baramulla and Banihal in the Jammu division were stopped.
The bodies were handed over to the families even as protests against the encounter broke out in Tral. The police dispersed the crowd using tear gas.
In south Kashmir, which has emerged as a hotbed of militancy, protesters often take to the street to protest ongoing encounters, resulting in civilian deaths.
Seven civilians were killed exactly a week ago when security forces opened fire on residents trying to disrupt a joint operation launched by the army and the police in Pulwama in which three militants and a soldier died.
A police?official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the operation was a big blow to Musa, whose team has now been reduced to four-five men.
“They are a localised group with limited presence but with an ideology and effort to do something in the rest of the country,” the official said.
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