Top Hizb commander militant killed in south Kashmir

Srinagar, May 7 : The Army claimed a major achievement and dealt a severe blow to the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen by killing the outfit's top commander, believed to have masterminded several car bomb explosions, in south Kashmir today.

A defence spokesman said the troops killed the Hizb District Commander for Anantnag, Mushtaq Ahmed Bhat alias Gowhar, a resident of Kavil, Shikargarh in Tral, in an ambush early today in Nooripora area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir.

One AK 56 rifle along with magazines and ammunition have been seized from the slain militant commander, he added.

He said Gowhar, a dreaded and most wanted militant of south Kashmir, had been active since 1993.

He had undergone extensive training in arms and making of improvised explosive devices in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the spokesman added.

He said Gowhar had been the mastermind of all the car bomb blasts in the Kashmir valley since 2004 which resulted in large number of casualties to both the security forces and the innocent civilians.

''He has been involved in ruthless killing of civilians in Tral and Anantnag areas to ensure the writ of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Beheading of a Gujjar couple in northern part of Tral in 2004 was his handiwork,'' the spokesman claimed.

He said 35-year-old Gowhar, with radio set code Aijaz, was the overall coordinator of the Hizb.

The spokesman said the Hizb commander had expertise in planning, preparation and execution of all Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in south Kashmir and the Srinagar city.

''His prominent terror acts were the bomb blasts in Pulwama, Bemina, Nishat and Burn Hall School in Srinagar,'' he added.

The spokesman said Rayees Dar and Sohail Faisal, two of Gowhar's close associates, were also involved in the IED blasts and killing of a large number of innocent civilians.

Gowhar was appointed the Hizb District Commander after Shabir Bhadoori was killed by the Army in 2005, he added.

The spokesman said troops, on specific information, laid a multiple ambush at Noorpora in Tral early today.

When asked to surrender, the militants opened fire.

The fire was effectively retaliated and in the fierce gunfight, Gowhar was killed.

UNI