The killing of Lashkar-e-Toiba chief of north Kashmir, Sajad Ahmad Mir, alias Haider, is being termed by the security forces as a “major setback” for militants and it will “directly impact” the recruitment.

 
Sajad (28), a resident of Brath Kalan, Sopore, was killed at Kreeri, Baramulla, in a gunfight that erupted on Monday morning after militant attacked a joint naka of forces, leaving a policeman and two CRPF men dead. Two of his associates Usman, a suspected Pakistani national, and a local, Anayatullah Mir of Andergam Pattan, were also killed in the gunfight, which also left two soldiers dead.

The police said Sajad killing was a “huge success” as he was involved in planning and executing several terror attacks in the area, including civilian atrocities and attacks on security establishments.

Sajad, had joined the militant ranks in March 2016 and was termed by the police as Burhan Wani of north Kashmir.

LeT’s Sajad was instrumental in recruitment of militants in north Kashmir districts. The police officials said he had recruited over 24 youths into militancy in the Sopore area in the past four years.

“Apart from Sopore, his native town, he had managed to lure the youth to militancy in various neighbouring areas. Many of his recruits were killed in gunfights,” a police official said in north Kashmir.

 
Vijay Kumar, IGP, Kashmir, is hopeful that with his killing, the recruitment in north Kashmir will go down.

“The recruitment of youths into terrorism will certainly decrease,” Kumar told The Tribune. — TNS

Courtesy: Daily Tribune:  19th August, 2020