Raid, bust, kill: The downfall of the Jaish-e-Mohammad has begun in J&K

Srinagar, Dec 4: In a major operation, the security forces have busted two modules of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmir.

The two modules to be busted were at Tral and Khrew Pampore. The security forces also arrested 10 Jaish operatives following the raid and bust. During the operation, the police found a huge quantity of gelatine sticks, detonators and Improvised Explosive Devices.

In the operation that was carried out in Tral four persons were taken into custody. They are Younis Nabi Naik, Fayaz Ahmad Wani, Riyaz Ahmad Ganaie and Bilal Ahmad Rather.

In the Khrew Pampore operation, the forces arrested Ahmad Parray, Yasir Bashir Wani, Yousuf Lone, Rafiq Ahmad Bhat, Javaid Ahmad Khanday and Imran Nazir.

The busting of these two modules is extremely crucial. These were the primary modules of the Jaish which were launching a series of attacks in the recent past. There was a surge in terror activity in both these areas. Following this a special team was constituted to probe cases which involved attacks on both security forces and civilians. The police say that with these modules being busted, they have managed to clear the Jaish of from Khrew Pampore and Tral.

The Jaish, which had witnessed a surge in the Valley over the past year, has been facing considerable losses over the past month and a half. Last week, Waseem, a Jaish terrorist from Pakistan was killed in an encounter. Another Jaish terrorist, Suhail Ahmed Lone was arrested following an encounter.

During the course of the investigation, the police have found incriminating material that links the Jaish directly to attacks on security forces and civilians. Officers say that these investigations are crucial since the Jaish had made inroads into the Valley.

In October, it may be recalled the security forces had carried out a successful operation in which the nephew of the Jaish chief was killed in an encounter. The security forces gunned down Jaish terrorist Usman Haidar, who was the nephew of the outfit's chief, Maulana Masood Azhar. Another terrorist of the same outfit, identified as Showkat Ahmed was also killed the encounter at the Tral area of South Kashmir.

Incidentally this was the second new of the Jaish boss to killed in an encounter. In November 2017, in an encounter at Pulwama, the forces had gunned down Talha Rashid. The killing of both these persons was crucial as they were also heading the sniper squad of the Jaish.

The police had said that the Jaish had four persons who were part of the sniping squad. They were using the M-4 Caribes, a weapon deployed in Afghanistan by the NATO forces. The weapons were procured by the ISI from the Taliban, which had stolen the same from the US forces in Afghanistan. The M4 has been used in the Valley for sometime now.

The killing of the two terrorists is seen as an important breakthrough in busting the sniper squad in the Valley. There have been at least three sniping incidents on the security forces and the latest was the killing of Assistant Sub Inspector of the CISF at Srinagar in October.