Jaish commander killed in Kashmir

A top commander of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) guerrilla outfit was killed on Saturday in a gun battle in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

"The senior most commander of the JeM group was active in the Valley for the last 10 years. He was killed in a gun battle with the security forces today (Saturday) in Chatloora (Rafiabad) village of Baramulla district," a police official said.

The official said a team of 22 Rashtriya Rifles and police surrounded a house in the village, about 72 km from here, after they received information that the militant was hiding there.

"The militant fired from his automatic weapon and injured a sub-inspector. After a brief gun battle, the militant commander was gunned down," the police official said.

He said the JeM commander, a Pakistani national, used to operate in Kupwara district in 2002 and shifted his base to Baramulla in 2007-2008.

"He operated under various names like Jan Zeb, Yasir and Shoukat. He was responsible for many killings, including that of National Conference activist Ghulam Mohiuddin Bhat, who was killed in Chatloora village in 2010," the police official said.