Pulwama attack mastermind Abdul Rasheed Ghazi killed by security forces in Kashmir

In a big breakthrough, security forces on Monday gunned down top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Abdul Rasheed Ghazi alias Kamran, in a 12-hour-long encounter with multiple JeM terrorists in Pulwama area.

Ghazi was a Pakistani national and the brain behind the Pulwama attack.

TOI had reported on Sunday that Ghazi may still be in the Valley. 
Brain behind Pulwama attack ::

In fact, Ghazi had a narrow escape during an encounter which took place days before the vehicle-borne IED attack on CRPF convoy last Thursday. A local terrorist was killed and a soldier was martyred in that encounter.

Ghazi, who was an Afghan war veteran and an IED specialist, was the one who trained Adil Dar, the terrorist from Pulwama who drove the explosive laden vehicle into the CRPF convoy.


Close aide of Masood Azhar ::

On January 3, TOI was the first to report about the top Jaish commander having crossed the border on December 9 and hiding in Pulwama. The security forces had intensified the manhunt for him since the attack.

Ghazi was one of the closest and most trusted aide of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar.


Trained in warfare techniques and IED ::

He was believed to be in his mid thirties and joined Jaish more than a decade ago. He had been trained in warfare techniques and IED preparation by the Taliban and was known to be one of the finest hands of Jaish.

In pic: An Indian Army soldier carries a rocket launcher near the site of a gun battle between suspected militants and Indian security forces in Pinglan village in south Kashmir's Pulwama.


Seeking revenge for Azhar's dead nephew ::

Masood Azhar had already been seething for revenge after the death of his first nephew Talha Rasheed who was killed in 2017.

It is believed that Azhar sent Ghazi and two other top commanders to the Valley in the first week of December who then began to give final shape of a deadly plan which was to be executed around February 9, the death anniversary of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

In pic: Indian Army soldiers arrive near the site of a gun battle between suspected militants and Indian security forces in Pinglan village in south Kashmir's Pulwama.