J&K: Jaish-e-Mohammed operational head Khalid killed in encounter

Srinagar: Jaish-e-Mohammed “operational chief” Omar Khalid, who figured in the list of “most wanted terrorists”, was killed in a brief encounter with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s northwestern district of Baramulla on Monday.

Separately, an Army junior commissioned officer (JCO) was killed in a militant ambush in Budgam district overnight. Slain Subedar Raj Kumar was a resident of Himachal Pradesh.

In a third incident, at Gattipora Keller village in the southern Shopian district, the security forces gunned down a militant identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s Zahid, alias Ubaid. Two to three other militants are trapped in the village, and the gunfight that erupted after the security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation earlier on Monday was continuing till late in the night.

Officials said that on specific information about the JeM “operational chief” moving in the Ladoora area of Baramulla, the J&K police put up a checkpoint on a road in Woveri Mohalla.

At around 12.30 pm, Omar Khalid alias Khalid Bhai alias Shahid Showkat appeared nearby, and on seeing the security personnel hurled a grenade towards them, which didn’t explode. He then opened fire from a pistol but without causing any casualties, officials said.

They added that the militant commander, after being hit in the retaliatory firing, ran into a residential house around 500 metres from the checkpoint, and then moved to an adjacent cowshed where his bullet-riddled corpse was found later. Reports said the JeM commander had got a single bullet wound in the leg and had died of heavy blood loss.

The officials said members of the J&K police Special Operations Group were soon joined by the troops of the Army’s 32 Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF’s 92, 177 and 179 battalions. “During the operation, the terrorist hiding in the area fired again upon the search party. The fire was retaliated, and in the ensuing encounter he was killed,” a police statement said.

Sopore SSP Harmeet Singh Mehta said Omar Khalid, a Pakistani national, was active in Kashmir for the past seven years and carried a reward of '7 lakhs on his head. “He was an A++ category terrorist wanted in a number of acts of violence, including killings,” he said. “A++ category” militants are those who figure on top of the list of “most wanted terrorists” and getting them dead or alive is a top priority for the security forces battling the nearly three-decade-long insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Army had on June 1 released a list of 12 militants active in J&K in two categories of “A” and “A++” belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and JeM, who were active mainly in South Kashmir’s districts of Pulwama, Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian.

Among the A++ category militants was Abu Dujana, alias Hafiz (LeT divisional commander, South Kashmir), who was killed in an operation in Pulwama in the third week of August.

IGP (Kashmir Range) Munir Ahmed Khan said JeM commander Omar Khalid was the mastermind of the “fidayeen” (suicide) attacks on the security forces in J&K. He had escaped during the cordon-and-search operations several times. He said there are seven more militants who form the JeM’s suicide squads, and that a manhunt was on for them.

A police statement listed the crimes in which the slain JeM commander was allegedly involved. It said he was “constantly exploring opportunities to kill the security forces and police personnel and to attack police and security establishments in J&K”. It added he was motivating the youth and poor boys to join his outfit to carry out grenade attacks, and offering them money and other rewards on behalf of the Pakistan-based JeM commanders.

The statement added he was involved in a number of civilian killings and many fidayeen attacks in the J&K Valley, including the recent attack on SPO Altaf Ahmad Khan at Hajin Handwara (Kupwara), in which the SPO, his son and father were seriously injured.

He and his associates were involved in the killing of mobile tower guard Eidul Amin and civilians Mir Fayaz Ahmad Rather and Suhail Ahmad Dar and sarpanch Ghulam Nabi Khawaja in north and northwestern Kashmir. “He was also involved in the fidayeen attack on the 46 Rashtriya Rifles camp at Khajabagh Baramulla in 2016, and masterminded the JeM fidayeen attacks at the Pulwama district police lines and the BSF camp at Humhama near Srinagar airport recently,” the police said.

Earlier, an Army JCO was killed in a militant ambush at Drang village in Budgam district overnight. Defence spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said the militants opened fire at an Army patrol late Sunday night, leaving one soldier dead. Subedar Raj Kumar of 53 Rashtriya Rifles, who had received a bullet injury in his thigh, was rushed to a government public health centre at nearby Khag, and later referred to Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Subedar Kumar, 47, was a resident of Khanni village of Himachal Pradesh. He is survived by his wife Toshi Devi and two sons. His mortal remains were later flown to his native village, where he was cremated with full military honours on Monday.

These incidents took place hours after Union home minister Rajnath Singh said Indian soldiers along the Line of Control and international border with Pakistan had been killing at least five to six militants every day and that he had asked them to give a “fitting reply” if Pakistan opened fire. He said on Sunday he had ordered Indian soldiers not to fire at their Pakistani counterparts first, but give them a fitting reply by “firing countless bullets” if Pakistan opened fire.