Who were Haider and Shahbaz Shah – the two Lashkar terrorists killed in J&K?

The security forces on Sunday gunned down two terrorists in an encounter in Cheyan Devsar area of Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. Among those killed was a terrorist belonging to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba while the second one was a local terrorist.

Haider, a Pakistani terrorist belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba was active in North Kashmir for more than two years and was involved in several terror crimes in Bandipora, the Kashmir Zone Police quoted IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar in its tweet.

The second terrorist named Shahbaz Shah of Kulgam was involved in the killing of a civilian named Satish Kumar Singh on April 13 in Kakran area of Kulgam. Singh, a driver by profession, was shot in the head near his home in Kulgam. He was shifted to a hospital for treatment where he had succumbed to his injuries.

According to Jammu and Kashmir Police, the encounter started early hours on Sunday.

The killing of the two Lashkar terrorists comes days after the security forces eliminated three terrorists belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen near the Amarnath Yatra route of Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Among those killed was Ashraf Moulvi, the oldest surviving terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen and figured among the list of most wanted terrorists. “He had a long history of terror crime cases which include attacks on police/SFs and civilian atrocities and was involved in several killings including of policemen and civilians. Besides, he was also well trained in fabricating and planting of IEDs as he had crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 1999 to get illegal arms training and join terror folds,” the J&K Police spokesperson said.