J & K: Top Jaish Commander Among 3 Terrorists Neutralised In Encounter

A top Jaish-e-Mohammad commander was among three terrorists killed in an encounter in Pulwama of the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday. The JeM Commander is believed to be a nephew of Masood Azhar, chief of the terror outfit.

Pakistani terrorist Mohd. Ismail aka FaujiLamboo, Masood Azhar's nephew, is said to be an expert in explosives. Lamboo is reported to have been involved in planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in a Santro car which was intercepted in Rajpura, Pulwama last week. A terrorist driving the car laden with explosives abandoned the vehicle and escaped under the cover of darkness.

Lamboo is also believed to be a member of the gang which assembled the IED used in the February 2019 suicide bombing which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama.

Security forces launched a joint operation in the early hours of Wednesday based on specific intelligence inputs. The forces laid a cordon and made announcements asking the terrorists to surrender. Instead, the terrorists opened fire on security forces and in the ensuing exchange of fire three terrorists of JeM were killed including the IED expert.

There have been reports in the media that Pakistan is getting ready to push hundreds of well-trained terrorists into Kashmir. Smarting from its failure to internationalise the Kashmir issue, especially after the abrogation of Article 370, Pakistan has been desperately seeking to up the ante on cross-border terrorism. The Indian army has, in recent months,thwarted several attempts from across the LoC to push terrorists into India.