The Indian Army is on a lookout for more terrorists and is said to have released a list of the top 10 terrorists in the Kashmir valley that it is hunting for.

The Indian Army is on a lookout for more terrorists and is said to have released a list of the top 10 terrorists in the Kashmir valley that it is hunting for.

The development comes days after the local commander of Pakistan-supported terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s (HM) Riyaz Naikoo was eliminated by the army.

The top ten targets in Kashmir Valley include:

  1. New Hizbul commander Dr Saifullah, whose code name is @Gazi Hyder or doctor sahib. He joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in October 2014. 
  2. Mohd Ashraf Khan, code name Ashraf Molvi @Mansoor-ul-Islam. He joined HM on September 9, 2016. 
  3. Junaid Sehrai (HM) 
  4. Mohm Abbas Sheikh, code name Turabi Molvi, active since 3 March 2015 and affiliated to HM 
  5. Zahid Zargar, who joined Jaish-e-Mohammad in late 2014 
  6. Shakur linked to LeT since 2015 
  7. Faisal Bhai, joined Jaish in 2015 
  8. Sheraz al lone, code name Molvi 
  9. Saleem Paray linked to JM 
  10. Owais Mullick, who is affiliated to LeT

On May 6, Naikoo was killed in an encounter with security forces in his home village in Kashmir's Pulwama district. A top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Naikoo had been on the run for eight years and carried a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head.

Reports have claimed that as many as 28 terrorists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the month of April this year. However, armed forces have said that at least 35 local youths have joined terror groups in the first four months of this year despite the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the Coronavirus and increased presence of security personnel in J&K.

So far this year, as many as 64 terrorists were killed in Kashmir and along the Line of Control. In 2019, 152 terrorists were killed in J&K as against 215 in 2018.