Sunjuwan attack mastermind gunned down in J-K

Indian Army on Monday gunned down the mastermind behind Sunjuwan terror attack in which five army soldiers were killed.

Acting on a specific intelligence input, a small team of the Army along with the elite Special Operations Group cordoned off the Hatwar area in Awantipora and carried out a 'surgical attack' on a house and killed Jais-e-Mohhamed (JeM) commander Mufti Vakas.

At the time of filing this report, the Army said that the operation was in progress.

Indian Army's Northern Command tweeted: "#IndianArmy #OpHatwar (#Awantipur). One #Terrorist killed. Operation in progress @adgpi @PIB_India @SpokespersonMoD @JmuKmrPolice @crpfindia (sic)."

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) SP Vaid confirmed that killed Jais-e-Mohhamed (JeM) commander was mastermind behind many terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir including Sunjuwan terror attack.

"Jaish commander Mufti Vakas has been killed in an encounter at Hatiwara, Awantipora. He was Cheif Commander of JEM in J&K and master mind of suicidal attacks of Sunjuwan , Lethpora , Pulwama DPL and BSF at Srinagar airport (sic)," Vaid tweeted.

Earlier, SP Pani, Inspector General, Kashmir Range, also told ANI, "Mufti has been eliminated in Awantipora. He was mastermind behind several terrorist attacks on security forces including Sunjuwan attack."

He also added that "weapons and incriminating materials like: IED (improvised explosive device) preparation documents were recovered from him. He is a foreign terrorist".

On February 10, at around 4:10 am IST; four heavily-armed militants attacked an army camp of the 36 Brigade of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAK LI) at Sunjuwan in Jammu, which housed army personnel as well as their families. The attackers were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades. They entered the residential quarters and opened fire, killing two soldiers and injuring at least nine others including women and children.

The militants were cornered in a residential complex and special forces were deployed in a battle that lasted over 24 hours, at the end of which all the militants were killed.

Five Indian army personnel were killed in the attack, including Sub. Madan Lal Choudhary, Sub. Mohd Ashraf Mir, Hav. Habib-Ullah Qurashi, NK Manzoor Ahmed, L/NK Mohd Iqbal. The father of a soldier, L/NK Mohd Iqbal, was also killed.