Al-Qaeda militant Zakir Musa killed in encounter in Kashmir’s Awantipora
1 min read . Updated: 24 May 2019, 07:02 AM IST
Premium- Security forces gunned down Zakir Musa in an encounter in Awantipora in Pulwama district in Kashmir
- Zakir Musa was the chief of the Kashmir unit of the al-Qaeda
NEW DELHI : In a huge victory for security forces, wanted militant and the chief of the Kashmir unit of the al-Qaeda, Zakir Musa, was gunned down by security forces in Kashmir, on Thursday.
An encounter broke out on Thursday in Awantipora in Pulwama district in Kashmir, prior to which security forces received a tip off on Musa’s presence.
A person familiar with the development confirmed that even though Musa had been asked to surrender, he launched a counter attack against the forces.
On 27 July 2017, an Al-Qaeda faction named then Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Musa as the head of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind cell in Kashmir.
While intelligence units had earlier stated that Musa was operating independently in Kashmir to establish the Caliphate in the region, they had observed that the Al-Qaeda could not independently survive in Kashmir.
Musa was earlier appointed Burhan Wani’s successor.
