Zakir Musa’s radical group Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an outfit affiliated to al-Qaeda, received a severe jolt when six of its terrorists, including the outfit deputy chief, were killed in a gunfight in south Kashmir’s Tral sub-district on Saturday morning.
The gunfight triggered around 8.30 am at Arampora village along the Awantipore-Tral road, some 35 km from Srinagar, when joint teams of police, Army’s 42 Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF’s 130 and 180 battalions launched an operation after “tip-off about terrorists’ presence”.
“As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the holed-up terrorists. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight,” said a police spokesman in Srinagar. “In the ensuing encounter, six terrorists were neutralised. There was no collateral damage during the encounter.”
He said arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter. All the six terrorists were locals from Tral and neighbouring areas and were affiliated to Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
The slain included Musa’s deputy Soliha Mohammad Akhoon of Arampora, Faisal Khanday, resident of Amlar, Nadeem Sofi of Batagund, Rasiq Mir, Rouf Ahmed Bhat and Umar Ramzan all three residents of Dadsara.
“All the six terrorists were wanted for their complicity in a series of terror crimes, including an attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” the spokesman said.
A police officer said Soliha was active since 2015 and Rasiq had joined a militant group in 2016. “The two (Soliha and Rasiq) were initially associated with Hizbul Mujahideen and when Zakir Musa parted ways with Hizb and formed Ansar, the two joined him,” the officer added.
The rest four slain terrorists had joined militancy this year.
"The killing of six terrorists is a big setback to Musa group," the officer said. Zakir Musa who has been a close aide of Hizb iconic commander Burhan Wani parted ways with Hizb in 2017 to float his pan Islamic out Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind- .
The outfit assumed significance when it openly berated Pakistan's role in Kashmir. But with the killing of Zakir's "core team" the pro-Al Qaeda group has got a jolt as it does not have many cadres spread in the valley.
Killing of terrorists triggered tension in the area and authorities also suspended mobile internet in Pulwama district and some parts of south Kashmir as a precautionary measure. The train services between Banihal and Baramulla were also snapped amid fear of a law and order situation.
A large number of people attended the funeral prayers of the slain militants in their respective villages.
This year, the violence has seen a sharp increase in Kashmir. Forces have killed 240 terrorists, which is highest since 2008. According to police, in 2008, forces had killed 339 terrorists. Similarly, the forces lost 89 security men in the line of duty- which is also the highest in the last decade. Over 100 civilians have also been killed in the violence.
