Jammu-Kashmir: Zakir Musa's successor Hamid Lelhari killed in Awantipora encounter
Last evening in a big win, Armed forces in Kashmir gunned down Hamid Lelhari, Zakir Musa's successor and chief of Kashmir's Al-Qaeda unit. Al-Qaeda which is affiliated o Ansar Ghazwar-ul-Hind (AGH) had announced Hameed Lelhari as new commander after Zakir Musa's death in May 2019.
In the encounter with the armed forces, Hamid Lelhari and two of his local associated were killed in Awantipora on Tuesday. The encounter began in the outskirts of Awantipora after the security forces followed inputs about the presence of the terrorists at the location.
According to the Kashmir Zone Police, they have recovered arms and ammunition from the location. Noticeably, Hamid Lelhari was announced AGH chief just after two weeks of Zakir Musa killed. Hammed Lelhari was a 30 years old native of Pulwama, Kashmir.
Zakir Musa became Al-Qaeda's head in Kashmir since 27th July 2017 and he was earlier the head of Hizbul Mujahideen after the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016. Musa was announced offender by a special court of National Investigation Agency in Punjab's Mohali in a connection with serial blasts in Jalandhar last year. However, armed forces killed AGH Zakir Musa in an encounter in a village in South Kashmir on 23rd May.
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First published: 23 October 2019, 10:36 IST