Top Hizbul Mujahideen commander terminated in a CT operation in Kulgam

On 19th December 2024, based on an intelligence input, a Joint Operation was launched by Indian Army & Jammu Kashmir Police at Kader, Kulgam in Kashmir. Five terrorists were eliminated.

A senior Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, who had been active since 2015, is believed to have been eliminated in the encounter. Bhat was an important figure in the Burhan Wani group. Classified as “A++ terrorist”, he had a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head. Mushtaq Ahmad Yatoo, Irfan Yaqoob, Adil Hajam, and Yasir Javed were amongst the other terrorists who were eliminated. The encounter is strategically significant due to the terror activities of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.

It was inferred that activities of Hizbul Mujahideen was heavily deterred when one of its notorious commanders – Burhan Wani was killed. On 8 July 2016, Wani along with his two other associates was terminated by Indian security forces. The ISI funded propaganda of painting Wani as a martyr led to protests and unrest in the valley.

Pictures of the 21-year-old Hizbul commander surfaced online, surrounded by at least ten other terrorists carrying guns. Audio-visual messages were released in which Wani encouraged disaffected Kashmiri youths to join his outfit and wage “jihad,” against India. The outfit urged individuals from Jammu and Kashmir not to become informers for the Indian Army or police. Furthermore, the outfit had resorted to a direct recruitment drive in the state, offering remunerations of $530 (approximately INR 35,000) to those who were willing to join them. The close interaction between Wani and the LeT chief Hafiz Saeed was confirmed when Wani decided to seek Saeed’s ‘blessings’ and offered to create a joint collaboration between LeT and his own Hizbul Mujahideen in their ‘jihad’ against India.

Since his encounter in 2016, the group suffered massive setbacks, with more than 200 of its members killed within the span of 6 years.

Later, Sabzar Bhat, a close aide of Wani succeeded him. He was a member of group within the organization dubbed as Wani’s boys. He was killed in May 2017.

On 6th May 2020 another commander of the group Riyaz Naikoo, was killed. He was organization’s longest serving field commander at the time.

On 10th May 2020, Gazi Haider (aka Saifullah and Saif-ul-Islam Mir) was appointed the new chief operations commander. He was the district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Pulwama. On 1st November 2020, Ghazi Haider was killed in an operation, in Srinagar by the Indian security forces.

On 20th February 2023, there were reports of Bashir Ahmad Peer being shot dead outside a shop in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, by two bike-borne assailants. Peer was one of the founders of Hizbul Mujahideen and second-in-command of the organization, after Syed Salahuddin. He was also a designated terrorist.

Since the previous developments, the recent operation on 19th December 2024 comes as a success story in regard to the counter terrorism efforts made by India.

Responding on the success of the operation, Brigadier Anirudh Chauhan, Commander of 2 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, stated “This was a well-planned and coordinated effort that resulted in the killing of these militants, especially Farooq Ahmad Bhat,” he said. “Hizbul Mujahideen’s capabilities in Shopian and Kulgam have been severely weakened.”

Chauhan further stated the effective HUMINT received from the local residents of Kulgam played a vital role in bolstering the counter terrorism operation. Additionally, the collective support from the locals in conjunction with efforts from the security agencies also projects “the collective resolve to restore peace in the region”. Two soldiers sustained injuries and were evacuated to a Srinagar-based hospital. Javed Iqbal Matoo, Deputy Inspector General of Police for South Kashmir, confirmed that arms, ammunition, and some documents were recovered post the encounter.

Union home minister Amit Shah has reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir post the CT operation in Kulgam. The Data aggregated by the UT police and intelligence agencies on terrorist violence pre-abrogation of Article 370 (April 2, 2014-July 31, 2019) and post-abrogation (August 2019-December 2, 2024), indicates a dip in terror incidents in the area.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, 1517 terror suspects/associates were arrested post-abrogation, while the number stood at 454 previously.

There is a decline in organized stone pelting incidents which have reduced from 6563 to 776 since the abrogation period in effect.

Affirming India’s zero tolerance for terrorism, a J&K official stated “Just like you have armed gangs in hinterland states of India, we will treat the terrorists in J&K in the same way. No special status, no martyrdom….just as plain criminals,”