Top Jaish commander Sajjad Afghani killed on 3rd day of Shopian gunfight: IGP

Srinagar: District commander for Shopian of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit, Wilayat Lone alias Sajad Afghani, has been killed in the three-day-long gunfight in Rawalpora area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday morning, police said.

Inspector-General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, confirmed to GNS about the killing of Afghani in the encounter.

The IGP further said that Afghani was instrumental in recruiting militants in South Kashmir, especially in Shopian. “It’s a big success to security forces and I congratulate them for this operation,” he said.

On Sunday, one local LeT militant, identified as Jahangir Ahmad, was killed and an M4 rifle was reportedly recovered from him.

The operation was suspended for the night on Sunday evening and was resumed on Monday with the first light of the day.

Earlier, a joint team of police and army launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Rawalpora.

As the joint team of forces approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon the forces, triggering off a gunfight. (GNS)