Clashes in Kashmir over Zakir Musa's killing, schools, colleges shut, internet suspended

Clashes were reported in parts of Kashmir on Friday following the killing of Ansar-Gazwatul Hind (AGH) chief Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa. The authorities on Friday imposed strict restrictions in most parts of Srinagar and South Kashmir. No Friday congregational prayers were allowed at the historic Jamia Masjid for the second consecutive week.

Zakir Musa was killed in an encounter with security forces on Thursday in a village in Tral of South Kashmir, officials said. One AK-47 rifle and a rocket launcher was recovered from the site of encounter.

Zakir Musa was an Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind chief and a A++ terrorist. Zakir Musa, a close associate of Burhan Wani who was killed in 2017, was a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen who succeeded Burhan and later headed the Al Qaeda affiliate. He had taken to militancy in 2013. In 2012 he left for Chandigarh to study engineering at Ram Dev Jindal college but left it midway to join militancy.

Authorities said that all schools, colleges and universities of Valley will remain closed on Saturday. Also, mobile internet services that were snapped on Thursday evening on all networks continued to remain suspended on Friday.