PTI, SRINAGAR: Three militants, including Jaish- e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s nephew and another ‘commander’ from the group, were gunned down by security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, officials said here today.
A US-made M4 rifle used by Pakistani Army special forces was recovered following the encounter, which took place yesterday and is being described as a “breakthrough”. An Army soldier was also killed in the fierce gunbattle in Aglar area last night and two AK-47 rifles recovered. The killed militants have been identified as Mehmood Bhai, the so-called divisional commander of Jaish in the south, Tallah Rashid, Masood Azhar’s nephew, and Wasim Ahmed Ganie.
While the first two were in the category of ‘most wanted’ militants carrying a cash reward, the third was a local and had joined militancy in May this year, top officials from the police, Army and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said at a press conference here.
A Jaish spokesperson identifying himself as Hassan Shah sent a statement to local news agencies claiming that one of the slain militants was Tallah Rashid, nephew of Maulana Masood Azhar.
Inspector General (Kashmir Range) Munir Khan thanked the militant outfit for acknowledging the identity of the killed militant and said the state police would like to request Pakistan to claim the body of the two foreign militants. “I am thankful that for the first time they have owned a Pakistani militant, that ‘yes, he is nephew of Maulana Masood Azhar’.
