Jumma: Three terrorists of the Pahalgam massacre were gunned down in a joint operation of the security forces under Operation Mahadev.
Three terrorists were killed in an encounter in the Dachigam area near Srinagar, army sources said. Chinese-made satellite phones and several weapons were seized.
The mastermind of the Pahalgam attack, Suleman, was killed in this operation. Three terrorists were neutralized in an intense gunfight. The operation is ongoing. The encounter began at 11 am, defense sources said.
Speaking on the identity of the slain terrorists, Srinagar SSP G.V. Sundeep Chakraborty said that all three were Pakistanis and belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Hashim Musa alias Suleman, the mastermind behind the recent Pahalgam terror attack, has been killed. A key operative with links to cross-border terror networks, Musa was neutralised in a high-intensity operation after weeks of coordinated intelligence efforts.
He is also believed to be behind several other terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. According to intelligence sources, Musa had lost significant weight and changed his hairstyle and beard in an attempt to evade his identity. The other two terrorists killed could be Yasir and Abu Hanna, sources said.