Pahalgam Attack Mastermind Among 3 Terrorists Killed in JK Encounter
In a major success against terrorism in Jammu Kashmir, Hashim Musa, the mastermind of the Pahalgam attack, was killed along with two other Pakistani terrorists on Monday morning during an encounter in Srinagar under Operation Mahadev. Musa was the conspirator and executor of the attack in Pahalgam which left 26 civilians dead.
The operation is still in progress.
Army sources said the Operation was launched to hunt down those behind the Pahalgam terror attack, in a coordinated network of Army and Jammu Kashmir Police as well as intelligence agencies. Intelligence inputs gathered over the past month had indicated that some of the terrorists involved may have moved towards the Dachigam region, located roughly 20 km from Srinagar’s city centre.
Top Lashkar commander Musa, killed in the encounter, was also involved in the killing of seven people involved in the construction of the Z-Morh tunnel on the Srinagar-Sonmarg highway last year.
The fierce gunfight broke out in earlyer hours when security forces conrnered the terrorists in the dense forests of Harwan near Dachigam in Jammu and Kashmir. Around 17 grenades, one M4 carbine and two AK-47 rifles were recovered from the hideout of the terrorists.
The anti-terror Operation Mahadev took place in the general area of Lidwas, Chinar Corps of Indian Army said. “OP MAHADEV – Contact established in General Area Lidwas. Operation in progress” the Chinar Corp said in a previous post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Hashim Musa aka Sulaiman Shah was identified as the mastermind of the April 22 terror attack that shook the nation and triggered an armed conflict between India and Pakistan. Musa served in the Pakistan Army and in the aftermath of the terror attack at Pahalgam’s Baisaran Valley, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had announced a Rs 20 lakh reward on anyone providing information about him.
The other two terrorists who were killed have been identified as Abu Hamza and Yasir. Yasir, too, is believed to be among the Pahalgam killers. Security forces from the Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police were part of today’s joint operation.
(More inputs being added)
