Op Mahadev: Slain terrorists identified as A-grade Lashkar operatives

Security agencies have identified all three terrorists neutralised during Operation Mahadev as top grade Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist who were involved in the Pahalgam terror attack.

The identification was confirmed with the help of an overground worker arrested by NIA, who was brought from Kot Bhalwal jail and shown images of the slain militants, sources from the security establishment said.

The slain terrorists were identified as Suleman alias Faisal Jagh, Jibran from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and Hamza Afghani. All three are Pakistani nationals and affiliated with the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The Indian Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps said the operation was launched on Monday morning near Mahadev Peak in Srinagar. Following an intense firefight, all three terrorists were neutralised, and their bodies were retrieved by security forces later in the day.

The security officials believe Suleman, a trained Pakistani Para commando, was the key plotter of the Pahalgam attack in which 26 civilians were gunned down by the terrorists.

Earlier the role of Jibran and Afghani in the Pahalgam attack was still under probe, however, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in the Lok Sabha that all the three -- Suleman, Jibran and Afghan -- were the attackers at the Baisaran valley.

Intelligence inputs suggest that Suleman was dismissed from Pakistan’s elite Special Services Group (SSG) before joining LeT. He is believed to have infiltrated into India in September 2023, and had been operating primarily in the Budgam district near Srinagar.

Officials suspect Suleman's dismissal may have been a strategic move by Pakistan’s SSG to bolster LeT’s operations in Kashmir through covert infiltration.

Meanwhile, sources said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is currently conducting a forensic examination of the electronic devices and foreign-made rifles recovered from the encounter site. The bodies of the terrorists have also been moved to mortuary where they will be examined by a team of doctors.