The longest surviving commander of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit and one of the most wanted militants in Kashmir, Yousuf Kantroo, was among three ultras killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Thursday.
“Top LeT #terrorist Commander Yousuf Kantroo killed in #Baramulla #encounter. He was involved in several #killings of civilians & SFs personnel including recent killing of JKP’s SPO & his brother, one Soldier and one civilian in #Budgam district. A big success for us: IGP Kashmir,” Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.
Kantroo, alias Issah, according to the police, was associated with militancy since 2000 and had resurfaced twice over two decades. He became active again in 2017 and was affiliated with the LeT.
His name had surfaced on August 2 last year in J&K police’s list of top 10 terrorists that it aimed to target. Kantroo, whom the police files describe as Lashkar’s “operational head, mastermind, planner and main recruiter from (central Kashmir’s) Budgam”, was at the second spot on the most wanted list.
Reports said two more LeT militants were killed in the encounter which erupted after a joint team of J&K police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search operation (CASO) in Malwan area near Kunzer in Baramulla during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday following a tip-off about the presence of militants.
As the security forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon the search team, which retaliated, triggering off a gunfight, police said. In the initial exchange of firing, three soldiers and a civilian were also injured.
While the restive south Kashmir has remained a hotbed of militancy for over the past half-a-decade, post the abrogation of the special status of J&K on August 5, 2019, north of the Valley is also proving a concern for security agencies.
Police sources said they have inputs that a number of foreign militants are currently active in north Kashmir districts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora.
The number of foreign militants is also rising in Kashmir with the ratio of locals and foreigners almost becoming 50:50. According to recent figures released by the Army, out of 156 militants active in Kashmir valley, 79 are locals while 77 are foreigners, predominantly Pakistanis.
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