Early Times Report
Srinagar, Nov 7: Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, who was a self-styled commander of the Hizbul Mujahedeen outfit, formed Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Jammu and Kashmir following differences with other terror groups.
In July 2017 the Global Islamic Media Front-affiliated Al-Hurr media channel of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind claimed that Zakir Musa had been named the head of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a newly created cell of Al-Qaeda. Kashmir's most wanted militant and Burhan Wani's successor Zakir Musa killed in Tral.
Zakir Musa was one of the most wanted terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. On 21 December 2018, the group's deputy leader Soliha Mohammad Akhoon, also known as Rehaan Khan, was killed in an encounter with 42 Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF along with five other militants.
On 24 May 2019, security forces killed Zakir Musa in an encounter in the Tral area of Kashmir. Security forces had to blast a chemist's house where Musa was hiding.
Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed in October 2019 that the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind has been wiped out of Kashmir. |
