Indian security forces kill J&k’s most wanted militant Zakir Musa

Security forces have killed Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind chief Zakir Musa in an encounter in Tral region of Kashmir late evening yesterday. One more militant was killed in the encounter.

Zakir Musa's body was retrieved at 6 am today.

A gunfight broke out between militants and government forces at Dadsara village in Tral area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. A joint team of army's 42 RR, SOG and CRPF cordoned off to Dadsara village late evening on May 23.

Security forces had to blast a chemist's house where Musa was hiding. The owner was sent in for negotiation to surrender. But Musa declined.

Authorities have snapped the mobile internet across valley and schools have been asked to shut down today on May 24.

The joint team according to the officer tried to persuade the militant commander to surrender. However, he fired some UBGL grenades leading to an encounter.

Musa split from the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the largest groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, and declared his allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2017.

His killing has already brought protests in the Muslim-majority state.

Curfew was imposed in parts of Kashmir on Friday, a day after Zakir Musa was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral.

Zakir Musa, whose real name is Zakir Rashid Bhat, was a close aide of Burhan Wani, a charismatic Kashmiri militant leader, whose killing by security forces in 2016 sparked widespread protests. More than 100 civilians lost their lives during four months of clashes with security forces in the Kashmir valley that year.

Local media have said that Zakir Musa's death is the "biggest victory" for the Indian armed forces since the killing of Wani.

Educational institutions have been closed and curfew was imposed in places in Kashmir as a precautionary measure, following the Thursday incident, officials said.

India blames Pakistan for fomenting violence in the region by supporting militancy - a charge Pakistan denies.

Since 1989, Kashmir has been convulsed by regular episodes of violence that have killed more than 70,000 people, including many Kashmiri Hindus targeted by militants in the early 1990s.