On Tuesday evening, J&K police had a successful operation wherein three terrorists were gunned down including Al-Qaeda linked terror group Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind (AGH) leader Abdul Hameed Lelhari in Awantipora, South Kashmir.
AGH had been trying to create a turmoil in J&K, but ever since their previous leader, Zakir Musa, was gunned down in May 2019 they have not been able to do so. They have found it hard to get any support from the local population.
J&K police said that the other two terrorists that were killed were identified as Junaid Bhat and Naveed Tak, who were involved in several terrorist activities in the past.
J&K’s DGP (Director General of Police) Dilbag Singh said in a session with media in Srinagar ‘We have taken a security review of Shopian and other places where terror attacks have taken place. We have not shied from taking action against terrorists. We killed three militants in Tral and three in another location…all three terrorists killed are locals. Zakir Musa’s successor Hamid Lelhari was also killed. They were working in coordination with Jaish-e-Mohammad’.
Singh added, Lelhari had been part of various terror related activities since 2016. He said ‘There was a fear that post 5 August that there would be a rise in terror recruitment in the Valley. But I am happy to report that the level of recruitment has been very low’.
