Top Hizb terrorist killed in J&K

nSRINAGAR: A top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander was among two terrorists killed in an overnight gunbattle with security forces in Srinagar’s Nawakadal area on Tuesday, Jammu & Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh said. This was the first such firefight in Srinagar since 2018 and was triggered after the forces launched an operation in the heart of the city following a tip-off about the militant presence there.

Singh identified the slain terrorists as HM’S divisional commander Junaid Ashraf Khan, who was the son of separatist leader and Tahreek-e-hurriyat chairman Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, and Tariq Ashraf.

The overnight gunbattle is the latest in a series of firefights in the Kashmir Valley over the last two months that have coincided with an escalation in violence in the region. It came days after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo , who carried a bounty of ~12 lakh on his head, was killed in Pulwama district on May 6.

The fresh operation began on Monday night when security forces encircled a cluster of houses in the densely-populated Nawakadal. Residents said they heard the first exchange of fire in the locality around midnight. The exchange resumed on Tuesday morning and the gunbattle ended around 1 pm on Tuesday when the forces recovered two bodies from a damaged house.

Singh said Junaid Ashraf Khan had joined militancy two years ago and had been operating in Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama and Shopian districts. “His associate [Tariq Ashraf] who was killed in today’s encounter had joined militancy only in March this year,’’ he said.

Junaid, a Master of Business Administration graduate from the Kashmir University, joined the militant ranks in March 2018. He later posted a picture holding a gun as he announced he had joined HM, Jammu & Kashmir’s biggest terrorist group. His father replaced Syed Ali Shah Geelani as the Tehreek-e-hurriyat chief the same year.

Singh said Junaid was involved in over half-a-dozen criminal cases besides attacks on security forces and intimidation of civilians. “He was operating as the divisional commander of HM of central Kashmir,” he said.