Two most wanted LeT commanders killed : India

Jammu, April 24 - Two Lashkar-e-Taiba - commanders, wanted for several killings and acts of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, were killed in the mountainous belt of Banihal in Ramban district Sunday after a fierce gunfight with security forces that lasted almost six hours.

The two Lashkar commanders, Ayiaz Ahmad Malik alias Abu Musa and Farooq Ahmad alias Zulkar Nain, responsible for several killings in south Kashmir and south of Pir Panchal areas in Jammu region, were killed at Khari area of Banihal in the morning, confirmed defence spokesperson S.N. Acharya.

Acharaya said in a release issued in the afternoon that soldiers of 23 Rashtriya Rifles in a joint operation with the Jammu and Kashmir police, raided the hideout of the LeT terrorists, whom the security forces had been looking out for several years. The gunbattle began at 1 a.m. and concluded at 6.50 a.m.

'This is a great success of security forces as the killing of these two commanders has broken the backbone of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the state,' the defence spokesman said.

The security forces did not suffer any casualty, he said.

Musa had escaped a few gunfights in the past and was involved in many attacks on security forces. He was the mastermind behind the killing of two Territorial Army soldiers on Dec 31 last year.

'Zulkar Nain was active in Shopian belt of south Kashmir and shifted his base to south Pir Panchal area in 2008. He was the self-styled Operations Chief of the area,' the spokesman said.

The troops recovered one AK-47 and one AK-74 rifle, six magazines, 160 rounds, one Chinese grenade, a satellite phone, a mobile phone, a pair of binoculars, a compass and assorted dry rations from their hideout.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is the strongest terrorist group in the state and it operates with the help of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.