A top militant commander, Zakir Rashid Bhat, aka Zakir Musa has been killed in an encounter with security forces. Musa, a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander, had formed an al Qaeda-linked group Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind. The encounter took place after joint forces, working on a special intelligence, trapped him near his home in the Tral area of south Kashmir. He was known for using propaganda to call for an Islamic caliphate in Kashmir and throughout India.
As reported by a source to NDTV, “Zakir Musa was an Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind chief and was also an al Qaeda affiliate. He joined terrorism in 2013 and came to limelight after security forces killed terrorist Burhan Wani in 2016. After Burhan, he became a poster boy of sorts in social media.”
According to reports, “A joint team of the Army’s 42 RR, Special Operations Group of J&K Police and CRPF cordoned off the village and launched a hunt for Musa. Musa had come to visit his home. But before he could be trapped, he left and hid in the nearby woods. The area was cordoned and he was trapped. Though he was offered to surrender, he didn’t oblige.”.
Musa, 25, was an engineering dropout. There had been an increase in his following after he quit the Hizbul to head the al Qaeda linked group. He had threatened Hurriyat leaders to hang them in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk area for calling the Kashmir conflict a political one instead of a religious one.
There was information that 2-3 terrorists were still holed up in the area.
All internet services and educational institutions in the Valley have been shut, as per govt directions owing to a possible law and order crisis.
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