Of 19 Pulwama attackers, eight eliminated, seven arrested so far

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, February 14

On the fourth anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack, the police said on Tuesday that of the 19 terrorists involved in the attack in 2019, eight have been killed.

PM leads nation in paying tributes

Remembering our valorous heroes who we lost on this day in Pulwama. We will never forget their supreme sacrifice. Their courage motivates us to build a strong and developed India. Narendra Modi, PM

A Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant, Adil Dar, had rammed his explosive-laden car into a CRPF bus at Lethpora in Pulwama, killing 40 personnel on February 14, 2019.

The attack was followed by the Army’s surgical strikes at militant camps at Balakote in Pakistan.

“Of the 19 terrorists and overground workers involved in the attack, eight have been killed, seven arrested and four, including Azhar Masood (JeM chief), Rauf Masood and (Ammar) Alvi, who all are based in Pakistan, are still alive,” Additional Director General of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters after paying tributes to the martyred CRPF men at Pulwama.

Kumar said the security forces had destroyed the Jaish network in Kashmir by killing their top commanders and lower cadre. “In the past few months, Jaish has reorganised and recruited some youth, but we won’t allow them to flourish,” he said.

The current strength of Jaish was 12, including five Pakistanis one of whom was Mossa Solaimani who was active in Kulgam district of south Kashmir, Kumar said.

Inspector General (Operations), CRPF, MS Bhatia said the situation in Kashmir had shown remarkable improvement since the Pulwama attack. “Situation in Kashmir has improved vastly … (anti-militancy) operations are continuing. Stone-throwing has ended. A record number of tourists arrived in the Valley. The terror eco-system has finished. There are no shutdowns. Overall there has been a remarkable improvement in the situation. And security forces are proceeding to wipe out the terrorism from the Valley,” Bhatia said.

“We are determined to protect minorities and in this regard several modules have been neutralised. The CRPF, police and other security forces have been ensuring protection to the minority community,” he said.