Srinagar, February 19 (NDTV): A day after three Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists were killed in an operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama a top army officer said that the entire Jaish leadership in Kashmir Valley has been eliminated.Lt Gen KJS Dhillon of the Indian Army, while addressing a press conference in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.
“I would like to inform that in less than 100 hours of the Pulwama terrorist attack, we have eliminated the top JeM leadership in the Valley, which was being handled by JeM from Pakistan.”
“We were tracking the Jaish-e-Mohammed leadership. We are happy to inform that we eliminated the Jaish leadership in the Valley, which was controlled by Pakistan,” said Gen.Dhillon, Corps Commander of Chinar Corps, Indian Army, said.
“The terrorists were killed in less than 100 hours after the Pulwama terror attack,” he added.
In the Jaish-e-Mohammad attack on a Central Reserve Police convoy on February 14, 44 men were killed.
Kashmiri Mothers Warned
Gen. Dhillon then went on to administer a stern warning to Kashmiri mothers.
“We request all mothers, make your sons who have taken up arms surrender. Anyone who has picked up the gun in Kashmir will be eliminated, unless they surrender,” the General said.
The four soldiers killed in the operation included Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, 34. The others were Sepoy Hari Singh, 27, Havaldar Sheo Ram, 37, and Sepoy Ajay Kumar, 27. Head Constable Abdul Rashid Kalas died of his wounds later.
The three Jaish terrorists who were killed included Kamran, believed to be a conspirator in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.
Kamran was a Pakistani and a top commander of the Jaish and a key aide of Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Pakistan-based chief, Masood Azhar.
Kamran was the handler of Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar and was responsible for recruiting, radicalizing and training terrorists in the Kashmir Valley.
The second terrorist killed was Hilal Ahmed, a local Kashmiri bomb specialist. The third terrorist, Rashid, also called Gazi and Lukaman, was also from Pakistan.
According to police records, all three terrorists were wanted for a series of terror incidents.
“The role of these terrorists in the recent Pulwama convoy attack is being probed as well,” the army said.
(The featured image at the top shows Jaish-e-Mohammad handler of the suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar who is on the left-hand side of the picture)