New Delhi: A 21-member squad of Pakistani terror outfit Jaish-e-Muhammed, which included three suicide bombers, had infiltrated into J&K in December 2018 to launch three suicide attacks, including two outside the Valley, highly placed intelligence sources said.
JeM Chief Masood Azhar’s nephew Mohammad Umair led the squad along with Kamran, who was killed in the encounter on Monday, reported TOI. They were tasked with avenging the killing of Azhar’s other nephew Usman Haidar in October last year as well as the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack.
In a public address on February 5 caught on camera in Pakistan, Azhar’s younger brother Rauf Azghar had warned India of suicide attacks if the Modi government went ahead with Ram Mandir construction in Ayodhya. The highly trained and heavily armed special squad was supposed to divide itself into two groups, one led by Mudassir Khan and another by Shaheed Baba, sources said. However, Baba was killed by security forces in an encounter in Druvgam in Pulwama on February 1.
Also Read: Mastermind Of Pulwama Terror Attack Gunned Down In J&K, 4 Security Personnel Martyred
Security forces in Kashmir eliminated three Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorists, including IED expert Abdul Rashid Gazi, the suspected mastermind of the attack on CRPF convoy last week. However, they also lost five of their own men, including a 34-year-old Army Major.
Of the three suicide bombers, Adil Ahmad Dar, a local Kashmiri, was chosen to carry out the February 14 bombing while the other two were assigned targets in Jammu and elsewhere, sources said.
Also Read: Pulwama Terror Attack: Forensic Probe Reveals Pakistan’s Involvement
Ms Kalinga