New Delhi:
In a major breakthrough, Indian Army on Monday gunned down Jaish commander Mufti Waqas, the alleged mastermind of Sunjwan terror attack in which six soldiers were killed.
Mufti Waqas was killed by security forces in a brief encounter in Hatwar area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Awantipur.
“Based on specific intelligence of presence of a terrorist in the area of Hatwar, Awantipur, a joint-specific operation was launched today by 50 RR,” Army said in a statement.
“During the operation, the mastermind of the Sunjawan terrorist attack and Letapore terrorist attack Jaish e Mohammed operational commander Mufti Waqas, Cat A++, has been eliminated,” the Army said.
Apart from the Sunjwan attack, Mufti Waqas was also the mastermind of several other suicidal attacks in Lethpora, Pulwama DPL and BSF camp at Srinagar airport.
There were no civilian casualties or collateral damage reported during the operation.
Waqar had taken over after the killing of JeM’s earlier operational commander Noor Mohd Tantrey. Security forces had killed Tantrey in the same area in December last year.
On February 10, Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists had attacked an Army camp of the 36 brigade of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in Sunjuwan. The attack resulted in killing of six soldiers and a civilian.