Hamid Lelhari (30), chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH), an affiliate of Al Qaeda operating in Jammu and Kashmir, was gunned down by the security forces in an encounter at Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora on Tuesday evening, reports claimed. In May, he had succeeded Zakir Musa after the latter's death. The death of Lelhari is considered a big win for the security forces.

Who was Zakir Musa?

In May, Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Musa was killed in an encounter at Dadsara, Tral, in Pulwama in south Kashmir. Musa had allied his group with Al Qaeda after breaking camp with the Hizbul Mujahideen following the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 8, 2016.

After floating the Ansar-Ghazwat-Ul-Hind, Musa was had been tipped to replace Burhan following his killing, had announced he was not fighting for merging Kashmir with Pakistan, but for establishment of a Caliphate. The Hizbul Mujahideen, however, opposed his views on militancy in Kashmir.

Zakir Musa had played an important role in reviving militancy in Kashmir with Burhan after joining the Hizbul Mujahideen in 2013.

Musa had also threatened Hurriyat Conference leaders for being a hurdle in the creation of a caliphate in Kashmir.

Zakir said he was doing jihad only for the sake of establishing Islamic rule in Kashmir, seen as a major departure from the traditional Hizbul Mujahideen-stand that calls for integrating Kashmir with Pakistan.

On May 12, while he was still with the Hizbul Mujahideen, Zakir had threatened to behead separatist leaders if they failed to desist changing the nature of Kashmir crisis from a "struggle for Islam to a political one". Notably, it was the first time that a militant commander openly threatened to execute separatist leaders. While the leaders faced criticism in the past from militants, they have never been meted out life threats.

"We will behead the resistance leaders—separatists—ahead of the Kafirs (non-Muslims) in Lal Chowk (Srinagar) if they don't refrain from turning the Kashmir issue into a political fight than a struggle for Islam,” Zakir warned in an audio message.