deadly attack on Amarnath Yatra +

massive hunt to track down Abu +

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Abu Ismail, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist operating in Kashmir and "architect of Amarnath Yatra attack", was killed on Thursday in an encounter with security forces in Aribagh area of Nowgam on the outskirts of Srinagar, police said."LeT terrorist Abu Ismail of Pakistan and his accomplice have been killed in Nowgam. Huge achievement for police and SF (security forces)," Jammu and Kashmir police official said, adding that he was the architect of thein which seven pilgrims, including six women, were killed and 19 were injured.Ismail, 24, who was involved in a number of terror attacks, had infiltrated into Kashmir four years ago and operated mostly in south Kashmir areas. The Lashkar terrorist and his Pakistani aide, Chotta Qasim, were gunned down after security forces zeroed in on their hideout after receiving reliable intelligence about the presence of two terrorists in a house in Nowgam, DGP S P Vaid said.“It was a huge achievement for the police and security forces. Abu Ismail was involved in a number of terror operations,” J&K police chief S P Vaid told TOI. He said the encounter was carried out successfully with the support of the people, the intelligence network and coordination between all forces.He was also involved in the terror attack on a DPS school building, and on the security forces on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway which had left a CRPF assistant sub-inspector and a constable dead and three soldiers injured, DGP Vaid said.Ismail formally took over as LeT commander after the killing of Abu Dujana on August 1, but Ismail was more active than the latter. While Dujana had taken to womanising, which led to his death, Ismail had become more organised, as evidenced in the attack on Amarnath yatris at Bantengo, Anantnag.Addressing a joint press conference, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Zone Munir Khan, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Victor Force Major General BS Raju and Inspector General Operations CRPF Zulfiqar Hassan lauded and congratulated the efforts of security forces for successful operation."On specific information, a joint operation was launched in Aribagh in Nowgam area on the outskirts of Srinagar city. It was around 4:15 pm that a contact was established with the two hiding terrorists in a house there. In a very brief encounter, both the terrorists were killed," Khan said."The bodies of the slain terrorists (Ismail and Chotta Qasim) have been kept at the appropriate place for appropriate disposal," he said, adding that they (terrorists) were on their way to the Line of Control to cross into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as they feared police were hot on their trail.The IGP said two AK rifles, UBGLs and other material were recovered from them.He said Ismail was involved in 15 cases including the July 10 attack on a bus carrying Amarnath yatra pilgrims in south Kashmir's Anantnag district which left eight of them dead."After the elimination of Abu Dujana, he (Ismail) had taken over as the chief of LeT in the valley. He was involved in around 15 criminal cases in valley which included murder, dacoities and other militancy related incidents. So, I compliment our teams for executing a wonderful operation with no collateral damage," Khan said."The day they (terrorist) killed yatris, the people said that such they should be brought to justice and today they have been brought to justice. It is a great success for the security forces. A chapter of these terrorists has been closed. Tomorrow will be a new day for us. We will start our work afresh."When the attack took place, there was total condemnation of the act committed by terrorists from all sections of the society and people said loud and clear that these killers must be killed. So, from that day onwards, these killers were our targets and our teams - whether they be police, army or the CRPF - were looking for them," he said.He thanked the people for "expressing that sentiment that time because that was against Kashmiriyat. No Kashmiri liked that".Asked whether all the terrorists behind the attack have been neutralised, the IGP said "One foreign and one local terrorists are left."He said Ismail was an "A++" category terrorist while Qasim was "A+" category, but refused to share further details of the operation."It is better not to ask such questions because they are operational details which we do not want to divulge. It is not that whole militancy has been wiped out by their killing. So, it is better not to divulge the details," he said.Khan said the priority of the security forces is to neutralise the militant leadership in the valley."Militant leadership is important to be neutralised. That has to be eliminated because they not only are militants but also provoke and motivate children. The priority is to neutralise the militant leadership. You know who are the leaders and they will be our next target," he said.He, however, said "we have a long way to go and we will keep on trying."Maj Gen Raju said Ismail's killing is extremely important because he was responsible for the death of about 14 security forces personnel and eight civilians."This success is also important because we are expecting vacuum in the foreign terrorists' leadership of the LeT. After the death of Abu Qasim, then Abu Dujana and now Ismail. In between we also killed (Abu) Ali. Now, we are looking at a serious deficiency in their leadership which should give us more opportunities," he said.Meanwhile, internet services have been now been partly restored in the Srinagar city.On July 12, security forces had launched aIsmail.Proactive operations have been launched, mainly in south Kashmir, to track down Ismail as investigations including communication intercepts have pointed out to his involvement in the attack on Amarnath pilgrims, a senior police official had said.He is the fourth top terrorist killed in Kashmir since last year. Burhan Wani, Sabzar Bhat and Abu Dujana were killed by security forces earlier.