SRINAGAR: Two Pakistani terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad, who were behind the February 2019 suicide attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama which killed 40 paramilitary personnel, were killed in an encounter with security forces on Saturday.
One of the dead Ismail Alvi was an IED expert and a relative of Jaish chief Masood Azad, sources said.
His accomplice, whose identity was being ascertained, was also killed in the gunfight. An AK-47 rifle, 1 M-4 Carbine, a Glock pistol, and a Chinese pistol were recovered from the encounter site.
Terming Lamboo’s killing as a major success for the security forces, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said he was the mastermind and the main accused in February 2019 Lethpora Fidayeen attack. Lamboo, according to GoC 15 Corps Lt Gen D P Pandey, had trained the local Jaish militant Adil, who eventually blew himself up in the suicide attack.
The attack was one of the worst in more than three decades of militancy in J&K. According to Kumar, Lamboo was closely associated with Masood Azhar and had infiltrated into Kashmir in 2017 through Sakargadh Sector.
Kumar said 19 terrorists and their accomplices were involved in the Lethpora attack case. “Out of 19, seven including Adil Dar, Mudasir Khan, Umar Farooq, Kamran, Qari Yasir, Sajjad Bhat, and today Lamboo have been killed in encounters while 7 militants and OGWs were arrested and five are still absconding,” he said.