New Delhi: Around 330 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019, ThePrint has learnt from sources in the security establishment, and nearly 81 percent were from banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“Around 270 terrorists out of the 330 belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba,” a source said. The terror operatives were killed in encounters and other operations by the Indian Army and the Jammu & Kashmir Police.
The rest include terrorists from other outfits such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Sources added that out of the approximate 330 terrorists killed, around 90 are foreign terrorists.
According to sources, the LeT, backed by Pakistan-based handlers, was behind the Pahalgam terror attack last week in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
The Jammu & Kashmir police released sketches of three of the suspected terrorists. These included a local resident, Adil Hussain Thoker, who had gone to Pakistan in 2018 and is believed to have returned to India late last year.
Foreign terrorists were identified as Ali Bhai, alias Talha Bhai, and Hashim Musa, alias Suleiman, both from Pakistan. All three, according to the J&K Police, belong to the LeT.
Sources said Ali is believed to have entered the country in 2023. ThePrint had reported earlier that Musa, the commander of the unit, had entered India around one and a half years back and was involved in at least four terror attacks in the valley since.
Since the attack, security forces have rounded up thousands of people for questioning over the attack. The houses of the suspected terrorists have also been razed.
ThePrint had earlier reported that currently there are 120 terrorists in the Valley, of which 60 are foreign terrorists, mostly from the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Meanwhile, the Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the LeT, has distanced itself from the massacre saying its social media post claiming responsibility for the attack was a “result of a coordinated cyber intrusion”.
However, in another video that surfaced on a social media platform Sunday, a modified voice of someone claiming to be from the TRF is heard saying the group would take revenge for the houses that were demolished.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)