Top Lashkar commander killed in clashes with Hizb militants

Srinagar, Sep 29 (UNI) A top commander of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was killed in a group clash with the Hizbul Mujahideen militants in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said today.

A police spokesman said during the intervening night of September 28-29, a group clash took place between the militants belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen and the LeT at Nildoora, Shopian in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

During the clash, LeT district commander Sameer Ahmad Mir alias Abu Saqib, a resident of Hatipora, Kulgam in Anantnag district, was killed, the spokesman added.

He said Abu Saqib, a dreaded militant, was involved in several killings, including those of nine Nepali labourers at Badru in Yaripora area of Anantnag district on July 12.

The spokesman claimed that the cadres of the two outfits have been at loggerheads with each other for the past few months over distribution of money looted and extorted from contractors and other works agencies, insufficient arms and ammunition, transfer of militants from the Hizb to the Lashkar and control over upper-ground women activists.

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