After the killing of Amarnath Yatra attack mastermind, Abu Ismail, the security forces have released a new list of top five terrorist active in the Jammu and Kashmir.

The new list was issued on Friday after the security forces eliminated ten terrorists who figured in the previous list of 12 ultras.

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One of the terrorist, Tariq Pandit, figuring in the earlier list was caught alive by security forces and the other, Saddam Padder, is still at large.

The new list was released after killing the Pakistani terrorist and commander of Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT), Abu Ismail, in an encounter in Srinagar. Ismail had succeeded Abu Dujana, another Pakistani terrorist who was killed last month.

Zakir Musa

Terrorist Zakir Musa, who has become the face of the international terror outfit Al-Qaida in Jammu and Kashmir, is now at the top of the list. He had recently split from Hizbul Muhajideen (HM) when his terror outfit bosses in Pakistan did not support his idea to “chop” heads of the top separatist leaders in Srinagar and “hang” them in the Lal Chowk.

Thereafter, he quit the HM and launched the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind of the Al-Qaida. Within a short span, Musa has become popular among the youth in the valley. According to intelligence reports, Musa is considered a threat to the social fabric of the valley as he is inclined towards Islamic caliphate in Kashmir.

Zeenat-ul-Islam

The 28-year-old, an IED expert, responsible for having killed three soldiers in an attack in Shopian on 23 February, is touted to become the next commander of the LeT also features in the list.

Riyaz Naikoo

Naikoo a tech-savvy A++ category terrorist, who heads the HM operations in Kashmir is suspected to be involved in killing of several policemen.

Saddam Padder

Padder is of HM outfit terrorist. He is a school dropout and was in the LeT before joining the HM in 2015.

Khalid

Khalid, commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), who after terror training in Pakistan is active in Sopore area of North Kashmir. He is believed to be behind the last month’s terror attack on the police lines at Pulwama where eight police personnel, including 4 CRPF jawans lost their life. He also attacked a convoy of the army in Baramulla in August last year when two soldiers and a policeman were killed.

Among the top LeT terrorists eliminated by the security forces this year in the “Operation All Out” are, Abu Ismail, Abu Dujana, Junaid Mattoo and Bashir Lashkari. The HM terrorists killed in encounters were, Sabzar Bhat, Sajad Ahmad Gilkar and Yasin Ittoo. Besides, three unidentified top terrorists of the Pakistan based JeM were killed in July in an encounter in Tral in South Kashmir.