Jammu and Kashmir police said one of the terrorists killed in Sopore on Tuesday night was Hamas alias Asrar ,a Pakistani citizen, affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba

LeT has been accused of attacking military and civilian targets in India, most notably the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Jammu and Kashmir Police has identified one of the two terrorists killed Wednesday night in Sopore as a top Lashkar commander, involved in the killing of two councillors in March this year. The other one has been identified as a local who joined terrorist ranks very recently. The duo was killed in an operation launched on Tuesday afternoon.

Police said Hamas alias Asrar was a Pakistani citizen, who was affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and active in areas such as Zaingeeer, Warpora, Hatlangoo, Brath, Darpora, Bomai, Zaloora and Nathipora.

“He was active since 2018, being in the list of top 60 militants released by the JKP [police] recently, and was instrumental in misleading the youth... to join terrorist organisations,” said Kashmir inspector general (IG) Vijay Kumar.

LeT is an Islamist jihadist group based in Pakistan. It was founded in 1987 by Hafiz Sayeed, one of India’s most wanted terrorists. LeT has been accused of attacking military and civilian targets in India, most notably the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by India, UN and the United States.

Kumar said Hamas was involved in multiple terror related offences which include grenade throwing on security establishments and the recent killing of two councillors Peer Riyaaz and Peer Shamsuddin along with a special protection officer (SPO) Shafaat Ahmed on March 29.

Six cases were registered against the Pakistan based terrorist, he added.

The other militant killed in the encounter was identified as Waseem Nazir Lone of Hathlangoo, Sopore. Police said Lone was involved in stone pelting and worked as an over ground worker for the terror group before he went missing and joined Lashkar a few days ago.