Udhampur attack mastermind killed in Kashmir

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Abu Qasim, the mastermind of the Udhampur attack on a BSF bus on August 5, has been killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Thursday.

"Abu Qasim, the operational commander of the LeT, was killed during the night in an ambush by the security forces in Khandaypora village of Kulgam district," a police officer told IANS here.

Security forces laid an ambush in the area following specific information about the movements of the LeT commander.

"Abu Qasim fell into the ambush along with an accomplice. Abu Qasim was killed in the first contact (exchange of gunfire)," the officer said, adding the killing was a major success for the security forces.

Sporadic exchange of fire is under way in the area.

The officer said the LeT commander was active in the state for the last six years and was the most wanted militant commander in Jammu and Kashmir.

A resident of Pakistan, Abu Qasim was the mastermind of the Udhampur attack in which two BSF personnel were killed and 11 others injured, he said.

One terrorist was killed on the spot while another, Naveed was apprehended by villagers and handed over to police after he escaped from the site where the two LeT terrorists had carried out the attack.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating the case. Naveed and two local accomplices are all currently in a jail in Jammu.