Pulwama attack's top terrorist killed: official

|HT|

A top Pakistani terrorist affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) involved in the Pulwama attack was gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, a senior police official said on Saturday. Abu Saifullah, who was also known as Adnan, Ismail and Lamboo and had been operating in the valley since 2017, was killed along with another terrorist at Hangalmarg in Tral of the Pulwama district, the official added.

"He was involved in a series of terror attacks, including the Pulwama attack of February 14, 2019, along with others. Adnan was a very strong associate of Pakistan-based top JeM hierarchy of Rauf Azhar, Maulana Masood Azhar and Ammar," the senior official said.

He was an expert on vehicle-borne IED, which is routinely used in Afghanistan and also in the Pulwama attack of 2019. Officials said he was associated with the Taliban as well. He remained close to Talha Saif and Umer, who of whom have been killed. A security dossier said that he tried to re-establish and strengthen the JeM outfit and utilise Awantipora, especially the Kakpora and Pampore areas of Pulwama, as a hotbed for recruiting new terrorist groups and transporting them to other parts for carrying out attacks.

The official also said that details on the identity of the second terrorist are awaited. adding that an M-4 rife, AK-47 rifle, a Glock pistol as well as another pistol was recovered from the dead terrorists among others.

Security forces launched the joint operation in the morning and an exchange of fire was triggered during a cordon and search operation, police said.

Security forces have killed at least 87 terrorists, including some top commanders, in Kashmir since January this year.

(Except for the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)