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First Baloch militant killed in Kashmir
Pakistani militants getting killed in Jammu and Kashmir is no news. But the Pakistani militant killed in Pulwama district on October 13 has taken security forces by surprise. The slain suicide bomber was from Balochistan.
Pakistani militants getting killed in Jammu and Kashmir is no news. But the Pakistani militant killed in Pulwama district on October 13 has taken security forces by surprise. The slain suicide bomber was from Balochistan.
Balochistan is a province in Pakistan, which shares significant historical ties with India and relatively nurtures less hatred for India than other provinces of Pakistan.
"I have never come across any militant from Balochistan. It seems he is the first," said Inspector General of Kashmir police Farooq Ahmad. "I cannot tell you why Pakistan is sending militants from that province."
Farooq said Pakistan usually sends militants from Punjab and northern areas.
The slain militant has been identified as Zaffar Iqbal, son of Mohammad Iqbal, resident of village Bang Balouch, Baluchistan.
The militant was killed in second week of October in a nightover encounter in Gusoo, Pulwama, 60 km south of Srinagar. The militant was earlier with the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and left the outfit after a tiff with his commander over a suicide attack.
In a rare switchover, Iqbal joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, an indigenous Kashmiri militant outfit. Police said Saqib, who is self-styled divisional commander of the Pir Panchal Range (PPR) of Hizbul Mujahideen, deputed Iqbal to carry out a fidayeen attack in Srinagar ahead of Prime Minister's visit to Kashmir.
Police said the slain militant was provided with a 25-kg IED, two hand grenades and an AK 47 rifle to carry out an attack. The militant was, however, intercepted and killed in a gunbattle during the intervening night of 12/13 of October.
The police had then claimed to avert a major attack in Kashmir.
