A senior Jaish-e-Mohammed commander involved in last year’s Pulwama terror attack has been killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Tral area, according to Kashmir Police.

The gunfight between security personnel and Qari Yasir took place on Saturday, PTI reported. Two other militants identified as Burhan Sheikh and Moosa were also gunned down. Three Army personnel were hospitalised after being injured by the militants.

At a joint press conference, Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon and Inspector General of Police of Kashmir Vijay Kumar said the militants were planning a major attack on Republic Day. “We have neutralised three militants in the Tral encounter and one of them is Qari Yasir who was a self-styled Kashmir chief of JeM,” Kumar said. “He was involved in last year’s February IED blast and also Lethpora blast. He was an IED expert and was involved in recruitment as well as relocation of militants coming in from Pakistan.”

Advertisement

Dhillon said “a major incident” was averted. “The JeM module was active and was planning to do something sensational on the Republic Day,” he added.

Kumar said the security forces were getting regular inputs about an improvised explosive device blast in Srinagar and surrounding areas. “We were getting the names of Burhan and Yasir,” he added. “Moosa, a buddy and a second-in-command of Yasir was also with him.”

The inspector general said said Yasir and Moosa were Pakistanis while Sheikh was a local resident.

Dhillon told reporters that Jaish was trying to revive itself in Kashmir. “Pakistani terrorists were coming and they were trying to revive Jaish...But Jaish has now been cleaned out yet again once for all as of today,” he added. “As regards, the HM [Hizbul Mujahideen], its top leadership has also been eliminated in Kashmir valley. The leadership of Al-Badr and Lashkar-e-Taiba was non-existent. So, as of today, most of the leadership of terrorism in Kashmir, including Pakistani terrorists, is more or less eliminated.”