13 top militants killed, arrested since 2013

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 11

In the past two years, security forces have eliminated 13 senior militant commanders in the region.

Of the 13 commanders, 11 were killed while two —- Fahadullah of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Talib Lali of the Hizbul Mujahideen —- were arrested in counter-insurgency operations launched since January 2013, according to the data compiled by The Tribune.

Five commanders, neutralised in the past two years, belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen, while four belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba and three belonged to the Jaish-e-Mohammad. 

One commander who drowned in a stream during a police chase belonged to a rebel militant group, Lashkar-e-Islam, formed earlier this year after several militants in north Kashmir broke away from the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Four Hizbul Mujahideen commanders, Shabir Bhat of Tral and Qari Assadullah of Pakistan were killed in separate counter-insurgency operations in 2013 and Adil Mir of Tral and Mohammad Shafi Sheikh of Sopore were killed in 2014. Talib Lali of Bandipora, commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen in north Kashmir, was arrested in September 2013.

Lashkar-e-Toiba commanders killed since January 2013 are Abu Ukasha Afghani, Bilal Ahmad Bhat of Pulwama, killed in 2014, and Irshad Ahmad Ganai, killed last month.

Lashkar-e-Toiba’s Fahadullah, a resident of Pakistan and a militant commander in north Kashmir, was arrested in April 2013 and the information gleaned from him during questioning dented the outfit’s network in the region.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad, the outfit on the verge of extinction in the region, lost three commanders, including Adeel Pathan, killed earlier this week. The other two commanders of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, killed since January 2013, are Qari Yasir of Pakistan and Altaf Baba of Pulwama, both killed in separate counter-insurgency operations.

After the killing of each commander, the replacement has come from the existing militant cadres or from the ones who infiltrated from across the Line of Control. 

The Lashkar-e-Toiba’s surviving commander in the region is Abu Qasim, responsible for several high-profile strikes in recent years and is one of the most wanted militants in the region.

The cadres of the Hizbul Mujahideen in south Kashmir, where an unusually high number of youths have joined militancy in recent months, are led by a young militant, Burhan Wani, who became the commander after his cousin Adil Mir was killed in 2014.

In north Kashmir, senior commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen Qayoom Najar, who is one of the oldest surviving militants in the region, rebelled against the outfit’s Pakistan-based leadership and formed the Lashkar-e-Islam, which launched a series of attacks on the telecom sector this year. 

Lashkar-e-Islam’s deputy commander Tariq Mir died in August this year by drowning in a stream while escaping a police chase.

Senior police officers say nearly 150 militants, most of them locals, are operating in the region, with 80 of them active in south Kashmir districts. 

Militancy has waned over the past decade in Kashmir as security forces have launched operations and strengthened the intelligence and counter-infiltration grid.