The Kashmir Valley’s most wanted militant commander, ZakirMusa, who headed the Al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Gazwatul Hind, was killed onThursday by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Informed sources said the security forces started a cordonand search operation in Dadsara village of Tral area following informationabout the presence of two militants there.
“The trapped militants were persuaded to surrender.Instead they hurled grenades and started a gunfight, triggering anencounter,” a source said.
One of the dead was identified as Zakir Musa.
Zakir Musa, a close associate of Burhan Wani who was killed in 2016, was a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen who succeeded Burhan and later headed the Al Qaeda affiliate. He had taken to militancy in 2013.
Zakir Rashid Bhat, his real name, was an engineering studentin Chandigarh who abandoned education and joined militancy.
He was born in Noorpora village of Tral area. His father, Abdul Rashid Bhat, is a senior engineer working for the Jammu and Kashmir governmen
After Burhan Wani’s death, Zakir Musa threatened to beheadKashmiri separatist leaders of the Hurriyat Conference for calling Kashmir apolitical dispute instead of a religious struggle to establish an Islamicstate.
Authorities have suspended mobile Internet services across Kashmirvalley as a precautionary measure.
Authorities have ordered closure of all schools and collegesin the Kashmir Valley on Friday.