Pahalgam attack mastermind, aide among three terrorists killed in Srinagar

A former Pakistani soldierturnedterrorist who was the purported mastermind of the brutal Pahalgam attack and one of the participants were among the three LashkareTaiba LeT terrorists cornered and killed by the security forces in Operation Mahadev in JampKrsquos Srinagar district on Monday officials said Notably the key success came as the Lok Sabha began a debate on the Pahalgam attack and the resultant Operation Sindoor to take out terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistanoccupied KashmirOfficials said that the three terrorists killed in an encounter with the joint forces comprising the army the CRPF and the JampK Police in the upper reaches of the Dachigam National Park near the Mahadev Peak in Harwan area of Srinagar were all Pakistani nationals belonging to the LeTThe trio included Suleiman Shah identified as the mastermind of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgram Security sources have confirmed that he was among the three terrorists killed in the encounterldquoTodays operation named Operation Mahadev neutralised three terrorists Suleiman Abu Hamza and Jabran Jabran too is believed to be among the Pahalgam killers an official said adding Security forces from theldquoSuleiman served in the Pakistan Army and was also known as Hashim Moosa In the aftermath of the terror attack at Pahalgams Baisaran Valley JampK Police had announced a Rs 20 lakh reward on anyone providing information about Suleiman an official saidThe three terrorists were killed in an intense gunfight after an antiterrorist operation was launched by the security forces in the Dachigam National Park following intelligence inputs Reinforcements were rushed to the spot as the area is densely populated and the terrain under operation is tough the official saidThe Indian Army JampK Police and other security forces have been launching aggressive antiterrorist operations across the area targeting terrorists Over Ground Workers OGWs and sympathisers of terrorism in order to totally dismantle the ecosystem of terror in the UTThe focus previously used to be merely on the elimination of terrorists but since 2019 Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has given an elaborate and extensive narrative and objective to antiterrorist operations by speaking of the terror ecosystem and bringing it into focusThe concept of security has since undergone a seachange as the entire gamut of antinationalist operatives whether armed or not has been brought under the antiterrorist operations After the April 22 terror attack by Pakistanbacked LeT terrorists in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed the antiterrorist operations have been using cuttingedge technology backed up with human Intelligence to defeat the nefarious designs of the terroristsThe heinous Pahalgam terrorist attack outraged the entire country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the armed forces a free hand to avenge the Pahalgam attackIndian armed forces carried out targetspecific strikes against terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan destroying nine terror basesHowever Pakistan retaliated by targeting military and civilian facilities destroying scores of homes and other private property and religious places including a temple a gurdwara and a church in Poonch district of Jammu division In the resultant escalation 18 defence bases of the Pakistan armed forces were damagedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever