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BSF camp attack mastermind among top 5 terror commanders

Khalid was leading a ring of 12 terrorists, 10 Pakistanis and 2 locals, who were targeting high-valued security establishments, says sources

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A Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander in Kashmir code named Khalid, who has been active since 2016 and is among the top five terror commanders, has been identified as the mastermind behind the BSF camp attack in Srinagar.

Other than Khalid, the other top commanders on the list are Zakir Musa, Riyaz Naikoo, Saddam Padder, and Zeenat-Ul-Islam.

Khalid was leading a ring of 12 terrorists, 10 Pakistanis and 2 locals, who were targeting high-valued security establishments, sources said.

Sources said there are sketchy details available about Khalid but he is said to be one of the key JeM terrorists given the responsibility of reviving the terror group in Kashmir.

He is believed to have trained and infiltrated from Pakistan, and is active in north Kashmir's Sopore area.

His name had cropped up for the first time in October 2016, when the Army busted a JeM module in Baramulla that was responsible for an attack on an army convoy in which killed two Army men and one cop.

According to sources in the security establishment, the group was also responsible for the attack on a police complex in Pulwama on August 26 where three terrorists were killed.

"With three more being killed on Wednesday, the group of four Pakistanis and two locals is still on the prowl," said a source.

On their radar were the airfields in Awantipora and Srinagar but they aborted the plan seeing a strong security cordon.

The dossier on other top terror commanders

Riyaz Naikoo: Hizbul Mujahideen

The chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, Naikoo, and an 'A++' category terrorist. The 29 year old is one of the most experienced Hizbul commanders and at present its head of operations in Kashmir. He took over from Yaseen Ittoo after his death in an encounter last month. Naikoo, who is from Durbug, Awantipora, is considered tech savvy. In a recent funeral of a terrorist he countered Zakir Musa's anti-Pakistan propaganda and tried to garner support for Pakistan.

He has been booked by police in several murder cases including that of policemen. To bolster his moderate image he had earlier during the year also released an 11-minute video asking Kashmiri Pandits to return to the Valley. Naikoo overlooks the Over Ground Worker (OGW) support for Hizbul.

Saddam Padder: Hizbul Mujahideen

Padder was part of killed terrorist Burhan Wani's group and is now the only one active terrorist among the 12 who featured in a photograph along with Wani. Apart from Padder, Tariq Pandit, who featured in that photograph, is alive as he had surrendered. Padder also comes from a family of farmers. Not much is known about Padder, except the fact that Hizbul thinks highly of him. Padder is a school dropout who joined militancy about 4-5 years ago but with little education he is said to be a 'clever' militant. He was with LeT until he joined Hizbul in 2015. After Musa left as the chief of Hizbul, Saddam Padder was one of the top contenders to be the next Hizb chief, a place later taken by Naikoo.

Zeenat-ul-Islam: Lashkar-e-Toiba

One of the local terrorists who could take up the LeT leadership in Kashmir. The 28-year-old is a resident of Sugan Zanipura, Shopian, and was recruited in 2015. He is considered one of the main accused in the Shopian attack in February that left three soldiers dead. Known as an IED expert, he is a former member of Al-Badar Militant outfit.

He was once arrested in 2008 where he is said to have confessed to being an over ground worker (OGW). He was eventually released four years later and is said to have gotten married before joining LeT.

Zakir Musa: Al-Qaida

After his split from Hizbul Mujahideen, he launched the Kashmir chapter — Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind — of al-Qaida. In a short span, Musa has become popular among the youth and cadres of other terror outfits. He was said to be close to Abu Dujana, LeT in Kashmir who was recently killed. He's considered quite dangerous because he's been using propaganda to call for an Islamic caliphate in Kashmir and throughout India, an ideology that's rapidly gaining ground in the Valley.

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