Pahalgam ‘mastermind’ among 3 terrorists shot

The security forces achieved a major success on Monday as they gunned down the alleged mastermind of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which had left 26 persons dead, and two other “hardcore” terrorists in an operation in the forest area on the city outskirts.

Sat phone signal gave them away?

• ‘Op Mahadev’ was launched based on a technical signal, indicating the use of a satellite phone by Pahalgam attackers
• Pahalgam ‘mastermind’ Asif, alias Sulaiman Shah, a foreign terrorist, was active in Valley since last year after shifting base from Pir Panjal range
• He is learnt to have fled the encounter site where Lashkar militant Junaid Ahmed Bhat, behind Ganderbal tunnel attack, was shot last Dec

While the security forces were tight-lipped about the identities of the slain militants, one of them had been identified as Asif, alias Sulaiman Shah, the alleged Pahalgam attack mastermind.

Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps said “Operation Mahadev”, named after Mahadev Peak in Srinagar, was launched on Monday morning and “contact was established” in the Lidwas area. The encounter site is located near the Harwan area, which is further connected to south Kashmir.

In the afternoon, Kashmir IGP Vidhi Kumar Birdi said the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and paramilitary personnel exchanged fire with terrorists in the higher reaches and as per the initial reports, three bodies were observed and seemed to be neutralised. The operation was “still continuing”, he said.

The Army later confirmed that three terrorists had been neutralised in an “intense firefight”. The bodies were recovered and brought down by the security forces in the evening.

Arms and ammunition were recovered from the hideout where the terrorists were found to have been preparing meals and hiding.

Army’s Northern Commander Lt Gen Pratik Sharma complimented Chinar Corps “for their swift action and precise execution in neutralising three terrorists in the ongoing Operation Mahadev”.

“Indian Army stands by its commitment to keep #JammuKashmir terror-free,” the Army wrote on X. In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, the Army had been realigning in the higher reaches of the Valley by setting up new bases and deploying more personnel.

The Kashmir Police later said the “identification of the neutralised terrorists” was being done. In Jammu, Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha said the three were Pakistani terrorists.

Sources told The Tribune that one of three slain terrorists had been identified as Sulaiman Shah. His killing was being seen as a “major success”.

The foreign terrorist had been active in the Valley since mid-last year after he shifted base from Jammu’s Pir Panjal range, where he was reportedly involved in a number of attacks.

Besides his involvement in the Pahalgam attack, Shah, sources said, had links to last year’s attack on a tunnel construction firm in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal in which a local doctor and six employees were killed.

Shah is believed to have given the security forces the slip in December last year, when Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Junaid Ahmed Bhat, who was behind the Ganderbal attack, was gunned down.