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Incidents involving Lashkar-e-Toiba

2008

  • October 6: An LeT militant, Mir Mohammed, surrendered before police at Shahdara Sharief in the Rajouri district on October 6. He deposited two pistols, two grenades, three magazines and 21 rounds .

  • October 4: A top militant commander of the LeT, identified as Ibrar Ahmed alias Abu Ubaid, was shot dead by security force personnel during an encounter at Dodimal in Targain area of Budhal in the Rajouri district.

  • October 2: Two LeT militants were killed during in an encounter with Police and Army in dense apple orchards near Drawni at Nagbal in Zainapora locality of Shopian district. They were identified as Abdullah and Rayees Ahmed. Abdullah was a Pakistani national. Two AK-56 rifles were recovered from the possession of the slain militants.

  • September 28: The security forces neutralised a hide out in the Mendhar area of Poonch district. While three LeT militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness, two blankets, socks and dresses were recovered from the incident site. "Based on tip off, a joint operation was launched by the troops of 7 Kumaon Regiment, 39 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group in Behri Rakh area near village Chajjla of Mendhar tehsil at around 6.30 am", official sources said.

  • September 26 and 27: In north Kashmir, Special Operations Group (SOG) of Handwara District Police and Army personnel killed a LeT militant identified as Abu Khubaib of Pakistan in Hafruda forest area. Officials claimed that Abu Khubaib was LeT's 'Launching Commander' in north Kashmir who had been operating in Ramhal and Rajwar forest areas for the last few years. One AK 47 rifle, three magazines and 38 rounds besides one blanket and a diary were recovered from the slain militant.

  • September 22: Two Pakistani 'commanders' of the LeT were shot dead by a joint force of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and CRPF during an encounter in the Sumbal area of Baramula district.The slain militants were identified as 'divisional commander' Tahir Pathan alias Abu Tahir and 'district commander' Abdullah alias Abu Maaz. Two AK-47 rifles and a satellite phone were recovered from the encounter site.

    Two militants and an Army personnel were killed at Kalsan in the Poonch sector. Troops opened fire when two intruders, who had taken shelter in a forest area tried to escape taking cover of firing by Pakistan army. While both the intruders were gunned down, in the exchange of firing, an Army jawan Naik Tape Azo was also killed. With this killing, a total of four infiltrators and two Army personnel have been killed during two days exchange of firing. As reported, Pakistan army had pushed a group of 8-10 infiltrators, all believed to be foreign mercenaries of LeT, from their Kabarstan post opposite Kalsan forward post of Indian Army. Two AK-47 rifles, two AK-56 rifles, 200 rounds, 16 grenades and food packets were recovered from the encounter site but bodies of slain militants couldn’t be recovered due to continued firing from across the LoC.

  • September 21:Two top LeT militants, including a ‘district commander’ of the outfit, Abu Sanwariya, a suspected Pakistani national , were killed during an encounter by a joint force of police, Army and Border Security Force at Dalwa in Gool of Ramban district.

    At least two militants and a trooper were killed during a gun battle along the LoC in the Poonch district. A group of at least 8 to 10 militants were spotted in forward Indian post of Kalsan, opposite Kabarstan post of Pakistan army. As they started heading towards Indian side, troops started taking positions, Pakistan army opened firing on Indian positions in a bid to give covering fire to the infiltrators, believed to be the cadres of the LeT outfit. Simultaneously, the militants also started heavy firing on the Army personnel.

  • September 19: Police arrested three LeT militants, Sajjad Ahmed, Rafiq Ahmed and Raj Mohd, from Upper Chakka in Bhaderwah area of Doda district. They had recently snatched two mobile telephones from the personnel of the Forest Protection Force (FPF). They were reported to have given the mobile phones to LeT ‘district commander’ Ashraf Hussain. The report added Ashraf along with his at least two body-guards was also camping at Chakka in Bhaderwah for last 7 days. Despite massive searches for him launched by security forces and police, he reportedly managed to escape.

  • September 17: An Over Ground Worker of the LeT managed to escape from police custody in Manjakot area of Rajouri district.

  • September 16: A number of LeT militants, arrested in different parts of the State during last couple of years especially the Pakistanis and Pakistan trained local cadres, had confessed during their questioning in the past few months that top LeT brass, based in Pakistan, Middle East, PoK and Kashmir were having close links with SIMI and even training their cadre in triggering blasts.

    Over 12 civilians were injured and another abducted by the LeT militants at village Bharat in the Doda district.

  • September 15: Two Army personnel and two SPOs were killed and one police man was wounded by three suspected LeT militants during an encounter at Tararan Wali dhok in the Surankot area of Poonch district. The militants, including two foreign mercenaries, however, managed to escape. The slain security force personnel were identified as Jaswant Singh, Chaman Vishnu Hari, Maqsood Hussain Shah and Mohammed Mahroof. Police subsequently recovered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and one magazine of AK rifle from the incident site.

  • September 6: Security forces killed a top wanted ‘divisional commander’ of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), identified as Qari Usman, in an encounter in the Sopore area of Baramulla district on. Two of his associates, however, managed to escape from the incident site.

    September 3: Police arrested two locally trained militants belonging to Al-Badr and LeT from the Wader and Mawar areas of Handwara.

  • August 27: August 27: Eleven persons, including three Army soldiers, five civilians and three militants, were killed while six others, including three soldiers, two civilians and a woman, were injured in Jammu as three fidayeen (suicide squad) militants, who had infiltrated in the early hours of August 27-morning from Kanachak sector, managed to hijack a truck at Gadla, and traveled more than 15 kilometers before taking shelter in a house at Chinore on the old Jammu-Akhnoor road taking nine persons hostage. The operation which started at about 7 AM concluded after approximately 18 hours. Two soldiers and three civilians were killed before the militants took shelter in the house of one Billoo Ram Bhagat at Chinore at about 6.45 am while two civilians, a Territorial Army soldier and three militants were killed and a woman was wounded in the gun-battle inside the house which concluded in the mid-night. 10 civilians were held hostage by the militants soon after they intruded into the house of Billoo Ram. Official sources confirmed that all three militants appeared to be members of suicide squad of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit and were believed to be Pakistanis though their identity hasn’t been established immediately. They were part of the same group which had infiltrated into Indian Territory from Kanachak sector on the intervening night of August 25 and 26.

  • August 23: A LeT militant, identified as Aijaz Ahmed Wagay, was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Btnar-Lolab in the Kupwara district. An AK assault rifle, three AK magazines, 122 rounds of AK ammunition, two hand grenades and a mobile phone were recovered from his possession.

  • August 22: Troops arrested a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant in Doda district.

  • August 19: An over ground worker of the LeT was arrested in the Ramban district and two grenades were recovered from his possession.

  • August 14: SFs arrested two LeT militants along with two grenades in the Poonch town. They have been identified as Farooq Ahmed Naik and Mohammed Ishaq. Senior Superintendent of Police (Doda) Raghubir Singh said the militants had been tasked by LeT commanders Mudassar and Iqbal to lob grenades in Doda town.

  • August 13: A top LeT militant, ‘commander’ Abdul Rashid alias Abdullah, surrendered before the security forces in the Bhaderwah area of Doda district and handed over one Pika gun with one ammunition box. Abdullah was reportedly an ‘A’ category militant and was active since 2002.

  • August 12: A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant, Rasheed Ahmed, surrendered before the security forces in Doda district.

  • August 11: A top Lashkar-e-Toiba ‘commander’ surrendered before the security forces in the Bhaderwah area of Doda district. He has been identified as Rashid Ahmed, an ‘A’ category militant and ‘tehsil commander’ of the outfit.

  • August 8: SFs arrested a LeT militant, identified as Mehboob Ahmed alias Manga, along with two grenades from Bhaderwah in the Doda district. Preliminary questioning of the suspect revealed that he was tasked by LeT commanders to target the SFs and crowded places in the Bhaderwah area. He was allegedly earlier involved in grenade throwing in the Seri Bazaar on June 11, 2007.

  • August 5: Police foiled an attempt to target a temple in the Doda town and arrested a LeT militant, identified as Ahmed Itoo. Senior Superintendent of Police, Raghubir Singh, said that on the receipt of specific information that a militant was trying to lob grenade on a temple, police were deployed in the temple premises and subsequently as soon as the militant entered the temple premises he was arrested. A Chinese grenade was recovered from his possession.

    Security forces arrested a LeT militant, identified as Nazir Ahmed, who was allegedly involved in a grenade attack at the Banihal bus stand in Doda on July 17 in which 42 persons were injured.

  • July 27: SFs killed two militants - Abdullah, 'Battalion Commander' of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Abu Baker of Jaish-e-Mohammed - in an encounter at village Gujarpati Surigam in the Kupwara district. Abdullah was reportedly involved in killing of two policemen in the Sogam area of Kupwara district in May 2008.

  • July 22: A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant of Kupwara district was arrested by the Army as soon as he infiltrated into Indian territory from the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district. Shamas Din is reported to have gone across the LoC for training on August 2, 2006 and was returning without weapons when he was arrested.

  • July 21: Both the Pakistani militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), who had attacked the Amarnath Yatra convoy and its paramilitary protection on July 20-evening, were killed by the SFs on July 21. The slain militants were identified as Syed Abid Ahmed alias Akash a resident of Sialkot in Pakistan and Sageer Ahmed Shah, a resident of Abbotabad in Pakistan.

  • July 20: An Army Major and a policeman were killed and three SF personnel were injured in an encounter with the militants at Jarh Wali in the Rajouri district. The SFs had launched an operation after receiving information from three militants arrested at the Jammu Railway Station a day earlier that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) ‘commander’ Azasa Shah alias Hujefa along with his three body-guards was hiding in the house of Mohammed Sharif at Jarh Wali. In the ensuing encounter, while Major Bhanu Partap and policeman Anjeev Rana were killed and three soldiers wounded, Azasa Shah and his associates managed to escape.

    SFs killed two militants in an encounter that ensued after a cordon-and-search operation at Chali Wan in the Bandipora district. The slain militants were later identified as ‘launching commander’ Abu Zaid alias Abu Zarr alias Abu Zubair, a foreign militant of the LeT in Bandipora, and Gowhar Ahmad alias Akash, a local militant of the Al Badr outfit.

  • July 9: LeT militants - Mohammad Amin Beg and his Pakistani associate Abu Qari - were killed in an encounter with the troops at Sumriyal forest in the Kupwara district.

    A LeT militant, identified as Abu Farhat of Pakistan, was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Shog Baba in the Bandipora area of Kupwara district. However, two of his associates managed to escape from the incident site.

  • July 8: Two LeT militants were killed in an encounter with the SFs at Shumriyal village in the Kupwara district. However, three others managed to escape from the incident site.

  • July 5: The SFs killed a hardcore militant of the LeT at Panjan Gali under the jurisdiction of Doda police station. The militant was identified as Tawheed Ahmed Bhat of Doda.

  • July 3: Anantnag District Police and Army personnel killed Abu Aatif alias Shadaakh, a Pakistani ‘divisional commander’ of the LeT, along with his Pakistani bodyguard, Syed Moin, during an encounter at Niaina Batpora village in Pulwama-Anantnag belt and arrested a young woman, Mubeena Akhtar, believed to be Abu’s wife. Two AK-56 rifles, one satellite phone and three mobile phones were recovered from the possession of the slain militants. Sources said that on the basis of some diaries recovered from the destroyed hideout, Pulwama Police conducted a raid on another militant hideout near a sports stadium in Pulwama town and recovered a large number of CDs besides INR 1, 25, 000. The report added that Abu had planned and executed suicide attack on a CRPF formation at Ramur in Uttar Pradesh on January 1, 2008 and an attack on Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore on December 28, 2005.

  • June 27: Two militants of the LeT outfit and two soldiers were killed in a daylong gun battle between militants and the Army at Khachpathri, near Kangan, in the Ganderbal area of Srinagar. Both the militants killed were unidentified but believed to be Pakistani cadres of the LeT. However, LeT spokesman, Abdullah Ghaznavi, said that five Army officials, including an officer, got killed. He claimed at 7:00 pm (IST) that none of the militants had got killed but said that the gun battle was still underway.

  • June 24: Police neutralised a hide-out of the LeT and recovered a large quantity of explosive devices, including five kg RDX, 12 grenades, 100 AK rounds and a large quantity of incriminating documents from a hide-out of the militants at Gandoh in the Doda district.

  • June 21: Two LeT militants, Abu Shams and Abu Javed, and one Central Reserve Police Force constable, K. C. Sahu, were killed and four security force personnel wounded at Shopribagh in the Hazratbal-Ganderbal belt of Srinagar.

    Two LeT militants, identified as Nazir Ahmed alias Abu Mohammad and Pakistani Abdullah, were killed by the troops during an encounter at Nariwan forest of Pir Panjal mountain range in the Shopian-Rajouri belt. Abu Mohammad was LeT's ‘divisional commander’ for Rajouri-Poonch belt.

  • June 20: Security forces killed a Pakistani commander of the LeT, identified as Mehboob Ahmad Afridi alias Jugnu alias Faisal, in an operation at Khoipora in the Handwara area of Kupwara District. He was reportedly functioning as the "district commander" of LeT in Sopore.

  • June 19: Troops foiled a major infiltration attempt on the LoC at Salhutri in the Krishna Ghati area of Poonch district killing five suspected LeT militants while two others managed to escape. Reports said Pakistan army was also reported to have fired some shots on the Indian side.

  • June 16: Police arrested one Lashkar-e-Toiba LeT militant, identified as Irshad Ahmad Hajam, from Chinar Park in Handwara of Kupwara district. The arrested militant had planned to carry out grenade attack on Handwara Police Station. One hand grenade was also recovered from his possession. During questioning, Hajam revealed that he along with other LeT cadres were assigned the task of carrying out hand grenades attacks on different targets like Police Stations, public rallies in Handwara and Kupwara by their 'commanders' Abu Hurrera and Abu Wakas. Acting on the information provided by Hajam, Police also arrested three more LeT cadres along with two grenades from each of them at Handwara market, Chogal and Kulangam Crossing respectively. They have been identified as Shahnawaz Shah, Tariq Ahmad Bhat and Fayaz Ahmad Lone.

  • June 10: The security forces arrested a LeT militant, Fiaz Ahmed Bhatt, from Jehand village in the Doda district. No recoveries were made from him at the time of his arrest. Fiaz had joined the outfit in 2007.

  • June 3: SFs shot dead three top militants of the LeT at Peer Gali in the Rajouri district. The militants were heading towards Kashmir from the Pir Panjal mountain when they were intercepted by the SF personnel and subsequently killed. The encounter was continuing till last reports came in as two more militants were holed-up in the area.

  • June 2: Security forces killed two militants of the LeT in an encounter at Dar Mohalla in the Bandipora district.

    Two more militants of the LeT were killed in an encounter with the troops at Dangarpora in the Baramulla district. Officials identified the slain militants as Abu Mujahid alias Abdullah and Abu Khalid alias Haji, both Pakistanis.

    Security forces killed two LeT militants, identified as ‘district commander’ Usman Bhai and Abu Jibran, while retaliating to an ambush by the militants at Chottipora in the Handwara area.

  • May 29: Security forces shot dead a ‘deputy divisional commander’ of the LeT outfit and his woman associate, who was also an active militant, in an encounter at Khandipura under the jurisdiction of Doda police station in Doda district. The slain couple was identified as Shabir Ahmed Ittu a.k.a. Abu Rizwan and Samreena Bano. Shabir Ahmed, according to sources, was an ‘A’ category militant active since 1995 and had recently been designated as ‘deputy divisional commander’ of the LeT. He was also involved in the Kulhand massacre of May 1, 2006 in which 22 Hindus were killed in the Udhampur district. Sources said Samreena Bano had joined the LeT a few months back. She was arrested on January 23, 2008 and had subsequently admitted to her involvement in militancy related activities. After being released on bail, she had again started working with the LeT outfit. Samreena was an over ground worker and was under police surveillance.

    The Kupwara district police killed a Pakistani militant of the LeT at Bumhama village. However, two of his associates managed to escape from the incident site. Residents later revealed to Police that one of the escapees was a Pakistani militant and another was a Kashmiri militant identified as Veqas. One AK-47 rifle, one Chinese pistol, one mobile phone and a satellite telephone were recovered the incident site.

  • May 27: The United States Treasury said it had decided to freeze the assets of four leaders of the Pakistan-based LeT, including its chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.

  • May 25: The dead body of a LeT militant, identified as Abdul Rashid alias Abu Maza, a resident of Nehla Charwari in the Ramban district, was recovered by police from Masjid Sharief Charwari. Sources said a letter written on behalf of the LeT outfit was found near the body which said Rashid was killed on May 22 after being hit by a stone on his head.

  • May 12: The SFs killed a Pakistani militant of the LeT, identified as Abu Maseh, in an encounter at Surankote in the Poonch district. A Special Police Officer, Shamim Ahmed, was reportedly injured in the operation.

  • May 11: Four civilians, two soldiers and two militants of the LeT were killed in an encounter in the Samba town of Jammu. Among the slain civilians were chief photographer of Daily Excelsior Ashok Sodhi, a prominent leader from Samba Hoshiar Singh and his wife, and another woman. 16 SF personnel, including the Superintendent of Police (Operations), Mubassir Latifi, and two women were injured in the day long gun-battle. Official sources said that two militants wearing Army uniform intruded into the house of Hoshiar Singh, general secretary of Indian National Democratic Party, in Samba town at 5.58am (IST) by scaling the boundary wall. After killing Hoshiar Singh and his wife on the spot, the militants subsequently moved towards the Kaili Mandi area and took hostage three women and two children. In the consequent encounter, two soldiers, Aziz Ahmed and Atul Negi, and a woman were killed. At about 5pm, the SFs stormed the house where the militants were hiding and shot dead both of them. Two AK-47 rifles, one rifle grenade launcher, some eatables, a wire cutter and a night vision device were recovered from their possession.

  • May 3: One LeT militant, identified as Qasim Din, was arrested by the SFs in the Bonjwah area of Kishtwar district. He was a close associate of Abu Hamza, a top LeT militant, who was gunned down by the SFs at Bonjwah four days back. Qasim had managed to escape in the encounter in which Abu Hamza was killed and had since then taken shelter in Kanuao forest. One SLR with two magazines and 26 rounds were recovered from him.

  • April 30: India was among the countries worst affected by terrorism with militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast, attacks by Naxalites and attacks elsewhere in the country taking a toll of more than 2,300 lives in 2007, the US State Department said. The State Department, in its annual report on terrorism, said terrorist activities along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir are on the decline but Pakistan-based militant outfits like the LeT and other terrorist groups continue to plan attacks in the Valley. "Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Kashmir-focused groups continued regional attack planning. In 2007, Kashmir-focused groups continued to support attacks in Afghanistan, and operatives trained by the groups continued to feature in Al-Qaeda transnational attack planning," it said.

  • April 29: A top Pakistani militant of the LeT, Mohammed Maqbool alias Abu Hamza, and a police constable, Kikkar Singh, were killed in an encounter at village Muslai in the Kishtwar district. Abu Hamza was active in the Kishtwar and Doda districts for the last four to five years and had been rated as ‘A’ category militant.

    The Baramulla Police arrested four persons, including a branch manager of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd, for illegal exchange of foreign currency and its subsequent supply to militants of the LeT.

    The LeT spokesman, Abdullah Ghaznavi, informed Daily Excelsior over telephone that all of his organisation's holed up militants had managed to escape in the 36-hour-long gun-battle in the Rajwar forest area of Handwara-Zachaldara belt. He claimed that as many as 10 troopers, including a Commanding Officer and a Major, were killed in the two-day long encounter. Officials while confirming the encounter, however, stated that no militant, civilian or police personnel were killed or injured in the two-day-long gun-battle.

  • April 28: SFs in Kishtwar arrested a LeT militant, Mohammad Ibrahim alias Abu Mussa, from the Pathro area. From his possession, police recovered one AK-47 rifle, three magazines and 90 rounds of ammunition.

  • April 24: The Superintendent of Police (Handwara), Dr Haseeb Mughal, said that about 30 militants of the LeT and JeM were still active in Handwara-Kandi belt of Kupwara district.

  • April 22: The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal, replying to questions in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) said that the banned SIMI has links with terrorist groups, including the LeT. He said that the links have been revealed in investigations into a number of cases.

    The involvement of Pakistan-based outfits has been observed in most of the terrorist attacks in India as groups from across the border continue to sponsor terrorist and subversive activities in the country, the Union Home Ministry said in its Annual Report for 2007-08. "The hand of Pakistan-based terrorist organisations - LeT and JeM - and, increasingly of the Bangladesh-based HuJI, known to have close links with ISI, has been observed in most of these cases," the 167-page report said. The incidents showed these groups have been using sleeper cells in the country to carry out such activities, and have also been using the territory of other neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal, it said.

  • April 20: Awantipora police arrested three OGWs, identified as Abdul Rashid Sheikh, Assadullah Gani and Ashiq Hussain Bhat, from the Padgampora area. Four hand grenades were recovered from them, an official spokesman said and disclosed that all the three OGWs were assigned the task by LeT’s Pakistani militants to carry out grenade attacks on the convoys of the SFs on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

  • April 19: The SFs in a day long gun battle killed four heavily armed militants in the Rang forest area, about 6-km ahead of Warnow in the Kupwara district. Three of the slain militants, residents of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, were identified as Amjad Bhai, Abu Saifullah and Irshad Ahmed. While Amjad Bhai was a top wanted ‘district commander’ of the JeM who had been operating in the Lolab area for the last six years, Abu Saifullah and Arshad were both cadres of the LeT. SSP, Kupwara, Vijay Kumar, confirmed the death of four militants said that four AK rifles and a number of grenades were among the arms and ammunition seized at the site of the encounter.

  • April 18: SFs arrested two militants of the LeT outfit from Seri Bazaar in the Bhadarwah town of Doda district and recovered some arms, ammunition and incriminating documents from their possession. They were identified as Ikhlaq Ahmed (code name Muzamil Bhat) and Abdul Samad Hajam. From their possession, SFs recovered one Chinese pistol with one magazine and five rounds, two mobile telephones, INR 2050, one purse with LeT sticker, one head band of LeT and a large quantity of incriminating material.

  • April 15: A soldier, identified as Dalip Singh, was killed during an encounter between the SFs and a group of LeT militants at village Khari in the Ramban.

  • April 14: SFs killed a ‘district commander’ of the LeT in an encounter in the Harwan area of Srinagar. He was identified as Zakaria, a Pakistani militant. LeT spokesman Abdullah Gazali confirmed the death of Zakaria but said that he would be issuing a statement after getting all details.

  • April 12: The SFs in an encounter killed a ‘district commander’ of the LeT, identified as Shabir Ahmad Bhat alias Mansoor, at Peer Mohalla in the Chakura village of Pulwama district. According to police, Mansoor was a listed "A" category militant of the outfit and had crossed over to Pakistan in 2001 and returned to Valley in October 2006.

  • April 11: JeM and LeT, the Pakistan-based terrorist groups, are among the 44 outfits designated as ‘Foreign Terrorist Organisations’ (FTO) by the US. Besides these two, other groups active in India — the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami and Pakistan-based HuM — are also in the FTO list issued by the office of the coordinator for counter terrorism of the US Department of State.

  • April 7: All the religious outfits which were banned by General Pervez Musharraf during his military rule would approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan and seek restoration, chief of the proscribed LeT group. "The ban was a step that the retired General took only to please America and now it is abundantly clear that people have rejected his policies," Hafiz Saeed, LeT (now known as Jama’at-ud-Da’awa) chief told The News. He criticised President Musharraf's Kashmir policy and alleged that the 'U-turn' taken by the Musharraf Government on Kashmir had badly damaged the cause of the Kashmiris' ‘freedom struggle’.

  • March 23: Three police personnel and a CRPF constable died in an encounter with militants on the outskirts of capital Srinagar in which they succeeded in killing Abu Faisal of Pakistan, a 'divisional commander' of the LeT. The gunfight ensued after the security forces surrounded a house in the Telbal locality, where some militants were hiding. According to the Police press release, Abu Faisal was responsible for a number of subversive acts and armed attacks in the Kangan-Ganderbal belt.

  • March 21: Two children, Mohammad Afzal and Akram Ashraf, were killed in a grenade explosion in the Gawari area of Doda district. Police said that some unidentified militants lobbed a grenade near a house at Gawari village leading to the death of two boys who were playing near their house. Police sources added that the militants lobbed the grenade to avenge the killing of four LeT militants in the same area.

  • March 19: The Doda district police and Army shot dead four militants of the LeT outfit, including a 'district commander', in an encounter at Gwari Shah under the jurisdiction of Gandoh police station. Two police personnel sustained injuries in the operation. The slain militants were identified as 'district commander' Imtiaz Hussain alias Abu Turab, Sadam Hussain, Suraf Nawaz alias Mehnaz and Sagir Ahmed of Pakistan.

  • March 16: SFs killed Hafiz Naasir, one of the most wanted militants and the Kashmir valley chief of the LeT, in an encounter at village Chatlura near Sopore town in the Baramulla district. Lt. Col. M. S. Kadam, the officiating Commanding Officer of Rashtriya Rifles (22 Battalion), and another soldier, identified as Pradeep Kumar, are reported to have died and four SF personnel injured in the encounter. Hafiz Naasir, a Pakistani militant, had been appointed sometime in 2007 as LeT operational chief in Kashmir after working in the Valley for about ten years. Deputy Inspector General of Police (north Kashmir), Dr. B Srinivas, described Naasir as the most wanted militant in the Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara districts.

  • March 15: A LeT militant was arrested along with electronic gadgets, including a laptop, the police said. The police raided the house of Shabir Ahmed alias Pappu in the Sabra village on March 14-night and recovered a laptop and pen drive from his possession, they said. The laptop recovered from Pappu originally belonged to slain LeT 'divisional commander' Abu Umar, the police said, adding Umar was involved in the killing of Deputy Superintendent of Police Shelly Singh.

  • March 14: Police in the Chakwal city of Punjab province in Pakistan arrested four persons on charges of their alleged links with the banned LeT.

  • March 12: A militant of the LeT was killed by the security forces in a gun-battle at Rampore in the Sopore area of Baramulla district. While Defence sources confirmed the death of one militant, Police officials insisted that three militants of the group were "believed to be dead." The Deputy Inspector General of Police (North Kashmir) said that no dead body had been recovered till late night. Unnamed officials said that Lashkar-e-Toiba's radio intercepts since the evening were also mentioning death of three militants.

  • March 10: Police claimed to have foiled a plan to carry out Fidayeen (suicide squad) attack at Srinagar by the LeT. Following an intelligence outfit that the LeT cadres were planning to carry out a suicide attack in the city, security forces carried out a raid on a house in the Harwan area and recovered police uniforms, pouches, three sewing machines, six hand grenades, seven AK magazines, 200 rounds of ammunition, one 2 inch mortar, one Thuraya phone and some coded documents.

  • March 7: Police unearthed a Hawala racket supplying money to the LeT operatives in the Kandi and Buddal areas of Rajouri district. The Police conducted series of raids in the Kandi area and arrested Zulfikar, brother of a slain HM militant Abdul Qayoom, who died in July 2007, and Muhammad Qadir of Larkuti, while they were purchasing shoes and other food items for militants operating in the area. "The police team also recovered Rs 1.5 lakh of hawala money from the possession of the arrested persons. The money was to be handed over to LeT commander Saqib (operating in Kandi and Buddal areas)", sources said.

  • March 5: SFs killed a holed up militant in the overnight operation at Chitti Bandi in the Bandipora district. One militant had died in the initial round of firing and another was trapped inside a residential house. Sources said that troops destroyed the target hideout, killing the holed up militant. Official sources said that one of the two slain militants was identified as Abu Abdullah alias Mohammad Saleem, a Pakistani national. They stated that both the militants belonged to the LeT. A defence spokesman stated that both the militants were killed at a time when they were planning a strike on the former counter-insurgent and current legislator from Bandipora, Usman Majeed.

  • March 2: SFs arrested two Over-Ground Workers of the LeT, identified as Sajjad Ahmed Bhat and Riyaz Ahmed Shah, in the Chakora area of Pulwama district.

    Police arrested a militant and his five associates including two women, from the outskirts of Doda town when they were smuggling a consignment of arms and ammunition from Kulgam to Doda district. The arms were being smuggled for a ‘divisional commander’ of the LeT outfit.

  • February 15: A top Pakistani militant of the LeT outfit involved in the November 23, 2007 bomb blasts in various courts across Uttar Pradesh was killed along with his associate in an encounter with police in the Pulwama district. Self-styled district commander Abdul Rahman alias Rehman Bhai, a Pakistani, and a local militant Moin Ahmed Mir were killed at Niloora-Aglar village. Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda told reporters that the slain LeT commander was involved in the November 23 blasts in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow courts in which 13 civilians were killed. "As per the UP police investigation, the LeT group that was responsible for sending arms and ammunition for attack at Rampur is the same group to which Rehman belongs", he said, adding "Rehman was part of the group headed by Abu Aatif which had supplied the arms to the Rampur attackers." The investigations also revealed that Rehman was closely associated with LeT militants not only in the Kashmir Valley but outside the State, he said.

  • February 12: SF personnel shot dead three LeT militants in an encounter at village Sarhuti under the jurisdiction of Mendhar police station in the Poonch district. A fourth militant, however, is reported to have escaped from the incident site. With this, nine militants, including six infiltrators, have been killed in the past one week in Mendhar sector.

  • February 7: A top militant of the LeT, identified as Showkat Ali alias Abu Haroon (set code Victor 6), surrendered before the Special Operations Group (SOG) Jammu.

  • February 5: SFs shot dead two suspected LeT militants in an encounter at Bindi Gala, about three kilometers inside the Line of Control in the Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district.

  • February 2: Three top LeT militants, belonging to Pakistan, and two police personnel, including a constable and a Special Police Officer, were killed while soldier was injured as security forces foiled an infiltration attempt on Line of Control in the Ghani forests of Mendhar sector in Poonch district. The operation was still on till the reports last came in.

  • January 27: The Karnataka Police is reported to have recently arrested a cook and a medical student for alleged terrorist links. The duo revealed that they had plans of bombing the Hubli airport. During the interrogation of Mohammad Ghouse and his associate Assadullah Abbubukar, the police learnt that Ghouse's father Mohammad Naseeruddin is a LeT operative and has received training in Pakistan. Intelligence Bureau sources said that Naseerruddin is a trained suicide bomber, who was trained at Muzafarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Assadullah reportedly met Ghouse at a religious meeting in Hubli in 2007, and was influenced by the latter to take up the jihadi cause. The police have also recovered CDs and maps of various installations from the duo.

  • January 24: A female militant of the LeT outfit, active for the last three years, was arrested by the Doda police. She was stated to be very close to LeT ‘divisional commander’, Shabir Ittoo, and actively worked for the outfit in Doda and its adjoining localities. Senior Superintendent of Police, Manohar Singh, while confirming the arrest said 23-year-old Samrina Bano, daughter of Ghulam Nabi Shah of Doda, was undergoing nurse training at the Health Department in Doda. She was very close to the LeT divisional commander and was instrumental in shifting cash consignments and arms and ammunitions for the militants. Intelligence agencies had reportedly intercepted messages of the LeT divisional commander who was in constant touch with Samrina Bano. This is the third such incident during the past six months when a female militant was arrested in the Jammu region. On September 7, 2007, the Jammu police had arrested a law student, Nahida Altaf, who was close to Saifullah Karri of the JeM. Karri was killed in a joint operation of the Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir police. In similar case, Kishtwar police arrested two sisters from the Sangram Bhatta area. One of the girls was arrested with a HM and INR 200000 was also recovered from their possession.

    A HM militant was arrested by the SOG of Jammu Police from a rented house at Dogra Hall in Jammu city. He was working as a Supervisor with a Chandigarh-based English newspaper to hide his credentials. The militant was identified as Riyaz Ahmed Shah alias Raja, a resident of Shangran in the Anantnag district. Preliminary investigations revealed that Raja, a ‘B’ category militant, was involved in the killing of a civilian Jabbar Khanday in 2005 under the jurisdiction of Dooru police station.

  • January 23: Bharat Bhushan, a Village Defence Committee member, was abducted and subsequently killed by militants of the LeT in the Doda district. The killing has been described as revengeful action as the deceased had fought valiantly with militants in the same area resulting in the killing of two LeT cadres three days back.

  • January 21: All the three holed up militants of the LeT were killed by the SFs at the residence of two activists of the ruling People’ Democratic Party (PDP) at Mandigam village in the Handwara area of Kupwara district in a 30-hour-long gun-battle. Sources said that the encounter came to an end at 1130 hours. All three militants were killed when SFs destroyed their hideout at the twin houses of PDP activists, Ashiq Hussain Parray and Mushtaq Ahmed Mir. Officials said that Major Parmar and another soldier were wounded in the encounter. LeT spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi identified the slain militants as Abdullah Gauri, Abu Issa and Abu Faidullah. He also claimed that nine soldiers, including a Major, were killed in the gun-battle.

    SFs killed two more militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba in a gun-battle at Alyalpora village in Shopian district. They were identified as ‘battalion commander’ Tahir-ul-Islam and Mohammad Hanief Dar.

  • January 20: One of the LeT militants, holed up in a house at Mandigam village in Handwara was killed by the SFs.

  • January 15: Security forces killed Abu Kital alias Abu Hamza, ‘district commander’ of the LeT, in an encounter in the Bandipora district.

  • January 13: Personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and Rashtriya Rifles killed two militants of the LeT outfit in separate encounters in the Doda district. According to Manahor Singh, Senior Superintended of Police, two unidentified LeT militants were killed in Shonsh and Banshal areas, under the Doda police station.

  • January 12: Troops cordoned the house of one Mangta Bhat at village Bikhrain under the jurisdiction of Doda police station and shot dead two top LeT militants who had taken shelter in the house. The slain cadres were identified as Altaf Hussain and Irshad Ahmed.

    A militant of the LeT outfit, identified as Farooq Ahmed Bhat, was killed by troops in the Bhagwah area of Doda district. Bhat was a ‘B’ grade militant of the LeT outfit and was active in Doda district since 2003.

  • January 10: A suspected LeT cadre, Abbas Khan alias Akhdas Khan alias Mohsin Alam, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a fake currency racket in Kolkata, by the detective department from a house at Chamru Singh Lane in East Kolkata’s Narkeldanga area. He had earlier been convicted by a Gujarat court for the Godhra violence but was released on bail. He had jumped parole and remained untraceable. An unspecified amount of fake currency notes of INR 500 and INR 1,000 denomination were recovered from him. Khan was subsequently remanded in police custody till January 15.

  • January 5: A top LeT commander Abu Muslim was found dead at Seeldhar in the Gool area of Ramban district. While local people claimed that the militant had died due to illness, official sources said an exact reason is yet to be ascertained.

    Security forces (SFs) arrested an OGW of LeT from Baramulla district. He was identified as Javed Ahmed Lone. One pistol, a pistol magazine, 38 rounds of pistol ammunition, two electric detonators and one remote control IED circuit with battery, were recovered from his possession.

    SFs rescued two youths from captivity of LeT after raiding a hideout of the outfit at village Lonepura in the Doda district. Two OGWs of the outfit were also arrested following the raid.

  • January 2: SFs arrested an over-ground worker of the LeT, identified as Abdul Hamid Ganai, from Sumbal.

2007

  • December 23: The STF personnel of the Uttar Pradesh Police shot dead two suspected LeT militants in an encounter on Dewa Road, 18 kilometers from State capital Lucknow. The duo was traveling in a car and was intercepted near the Central Food Technological Research Centre on Dewa Road. Brij Lal, the Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order and STF), said that both the unidentified terrorists were part of a Fidayeen (suicide squad) team and had entered the State from Nepal. He further said that the slain terrorists had planned a big terrorist attack in Lucknow. A map with notings in Urdu was recovered from them.

    Security forces killed two Pakistani cadres of the LeT, identified as Abu Anas and Mohsin in an encounter at Papchhan village in the Bandipora district.

    A Pakistani militant of the LeT outfit was killed in an encounter with troops of Rashtriya Rifles and police at village Harah under the jurisdiction of Gool police station in Ramban district. He has been identified as Abu Umar, a Pakistani, operating in Gool for the last one and a half year.

  • December 13: The Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested two over-ground workers of the LeT group, identified as Rahim Malik a.k.a. Osama, and Mushtaq Dar a.k.a. Chandi, from Sopore in the Baramulla district. A police spokesman said that two hand grenades were recovered from their possession.

  • December 7: Security forces killed a militant in an ambush at Dalwath in the Safapora area of Bandipora district. Three of his associates, however, managed to escape from the incident site. The slain militant is believed to be a Pakistani cadre of the LeT.

  • December 6: Police arrested a LeT militant during a search operation at village Bansan in the Reasi district. Senior Superintendent of Police, J. L. Sharma, identified the arrested militant as Liaquat Ali. On his disclosures, police personnel recovered two UBGL grenades. Ali had joined the LeT outfit only seven months back and was since then operating in the Gool area, according to Daily Excelsior.

  • Pakistani militants of the LeT and JeM have joined hands with the HuJI of Bangladesh to destabilise India’s sovereignty taking the strategic advantage of the eastern border, the Director General of BSF, A. K. Mitra, said. Talking to the media in Agartala, Mitra pointed out that the western frontier of India was relatively tough for Pakistani militants but the eastern border with Bangladesh had become more useful for them and foreign militants were utilising South Bengal border for anti-Indian activities. He disclosed that 14 militants of the LeT and JeM were arrested in South Bengal border, trying to sneak into India from Bangladesh in the past six months. Speaking on the recent terrorist attacks in India, including the recent serial bomb blasts in Uttar Pradesh, Mitra said circumstantial evidence point to a kind of a joint mission by the HUJI, along with LeT and JeM.

  • December 5: Two soldiers, Chuni Lal and Muzaffar Ahmed, and an equal number of militants affiliated to the LeT group died in an overnight gun-battle at Ladhermud in the Awantipora area of Pulwama district.

  • December 3: The Supreme Court stayed the death sentence of a LeT militant in the Red Fort attack case in which three Army personnel were killed on December 22, 2000. A bench comprising Justices G. P. Mathur and P. Sadasivam also issued notices on the petition of Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq, a Pakistani national and LeT militant to the Delhi Government. The Delhi High Court had confirmed the death sentence of the petitioner on September 14, 2007. A trial court had sentenced the petitioner to death in 2005 and Nazir Ahmed Quasid and his son Farooq Ahmed Quasid to life imprisonment. The High Court had, however, acquitted six others in the case. The petitioner had challenged his conviction and sentence in the case on the grounds that there was no evidence against him showing his involvement in the conspiracy and both the Trial Court and High Court had committed a grave error of law.

  • December 2: Police in Kupwara district arrested Waqar Ahmed and Feroz Ahmed War, both members of the LeT, along with some arms and ammunition, a radio set and two mobile phones.

  • November 29: Police killed Salman alias Hassan, a 'district commander' of the LeT, in a brief encounter in the Shalimar Bagh area of capital Srinagar. Inspector General of Police (Kashmir), S. M. Sahai, said that one Sub Inspector of the Special Operations Group of Srinagar District Police, Arshid, sustained minor injuries in the incident. A Police headquarters press release added that Salman had carried out a number of attacks on security forces and tourists and he was also involved in a suicide attack.

  • November 28: The SOG of police and troops shot dead a LeT militant, identified as Imtiyaz Ahmed, in an encounter at village Kither in the Gandoh area of Doda district.

  • November 28: One Over Ground Worker of the LeT outfit, Javid Ahmad Mallah, was arrested by police in the Handwara area of Kupwara district.

  • November 26: A LeT militant, Mohammed Rafiq Sheikh alias Abu Haider, was shot dead while his associate, who had come to meet his wife in the house of her relatives at Rang Bagla Neeram in the Mahore area of Reasi district, escaped after an encounter with the SF personnel.

  • November 25: SFs recovered four Improvised Explosive Devices and nine kilograms of explosives from a natural cave in the Mangal forest area of Rajouri district. The consignment reportedly belonged to the LeT outfit, sources said.

  • November 21: Pakistan army has developed a new type of "floating air pillow" to infiltrate militants from newly developed infiltration routes through rivers along the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu sector. The "air pillows" were reported to have been successfully used by a group of five militants to infiltrate into Indian territory from Munawar Tawi along Sunderbani-Khour sector on the Rajouri-Jammu border, official sources said. The information on infiltration by the militants using specially designed floating air pillows has been revealed by Mohammed Sharif alias Sharka, a top LeT militant, who was operating in Rajouri district for the last seven years and was directly in touch with top LeT commanders and Pakistan army officers through his sophisticated wireless sets and phones. Sharka, who had surrendered before Rajouri Police a few days back, has disclosed that a group of five LeT militants had successfully used floating air pillows to cross Munawar Tawi from Sunderbani sector in Rajouri district and reached the Indian side of LoC in the first week of October 2007. From Sunderbani, the militants were taken to Gool-Gulabgarh via Pir Panjal range by a guide of the LeT outfit, sources added.

  • November 16: In Sopore, unidentified militants opened fire on a former decoy of the LeT at Mohalla Momkak locality. He sustained gunshot wounds.

  • November 15: SF personnel killed two Pakistani cadres of the LeT during an encounter in the Machhil area near Sonapindi on the Line of Control.

  • November 14: Two Pakistani militants of the LeT were shot dead by troops of the Rashtriya Rifles and police in an encounter at village Seri Chowanan in the Mandi area of Poonch district. The slain militants were identified as Abu Qasim and Abu Hyder with the help of two identity cards recovered from their possession. Both of them have reportedly operating in Poonch district for the last eight months.

  • November 12: Four Pakistani militants - two each of the HuM and LeT, were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Dooru in the Sopore area of Baramulla district. Three of the slain militants were identified as HuM "Deputy Chief" for Jammu and Kashmir, Qari Umar, and ‘commander’ Bilal Afghani and LeT cadre Abu Faris alias Daanish alias Shamsheer. One soldier was killed and four others were wounded in the encounter.

  • November 11: Two ‘Fidayeen’ cadres of the LeT, holed up in a hotel at Sopore town in the Baramulla district for the past three days, were killed by SFs. A CRPF personnel too was killed during the encounter. Six other SF personnel were also injured in the encounter. The militants were identified as Abu Osama Zeeshan alias Qasim of Leh district in the NWFP of Pakistan and Abu Talha alias Janbaz Mumtaz Ullah of Meanwali district in Pakistan.

  • November 9: Five militants and four SF personnel, including a Major, were killed in an encounter which lasted four days at Sadpora Mohalla in the Pattan town of Baramulla district. Commander of the 10 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, Brigadier K. A. Muthana, informed that all the five militants killed were foreign nationals affiliated to the Pakistan-based LeT. Major V. S. Sandu and three soldiers were killed in the encounter which began on November 6-evening.

  • November 8: Two LeT militants opened fire on a bunker of the CRPF personnel who retaliated at Main Chowk in Sopore town of Baramulla district. Subsequent to the retaliatory firing, militants ran into a hotel Newlight and took positions on its top floor. Police and paramilitary personnel managed to evacuate a large number of holed up civilians and later engaged the militants in a gun battle.

  • November 7: Three soldiers and two LeT militants were killed during an encounter in Sad Mohalla in the highway township of Pattan in Baramulla district of north Kashmir. The encounter had begun on November 6 evening following reports of LeT militants hiding in two houses of the area. At least five soldiers, including a JCO, sustained injuries in the continuing encounter. Three more LeT militants are suspected to have escaped from the cordoned locality.

  • Two LeT militants, Mohd Sharif alias Sharka and Mohd Mushtaq, surrendered before police in Rajouri. According to official sources, they disclosed that the militants especially foreign mercenaries of LeT and JeM were strengthening their positions in Pir Panjal ranges and have even started operating training camps for local militants there.

  • November 4: Two LeT militants present in a hideout at Thathri in the Sonarthawa area of Doda district were killed following a four-hour long encounter. Both were identified as Showkat Ali Khan (code name Abu Zubair) of Gojru Thathri and Abdul Latif (code name Abu Zubair) of Loharthawa.

  • October 28: At Chalpura village in Kupwara district, troops arrested an over ground worker of the LeT, Javed Ahmed Khan.

  • October 20: The Personal Security Officer of the Superintendent of Police in Sopore and a Pakistani militant of the LeT were killed during an encounter at Malpora, close to Malmapanpora, on Sopore-Bandipore road in the Baramulla district. One civilian and a policeman were injured in the incident while the SP escaped unhurt. Meanwhile, spokesman of the LeT, Abdullah Ghaznavi, said that one militant of his organisation died after killing five SOG personnel, including an Inspector. He identified the militant killed as Abu Abdullah Jaish and claimed that yet another encounter started between the militants of his organisation and security forces in the same area at 1630 hours. He said that the encounter was underway and details were not available immediately. Officials, however, maintained that only one constable got killed and one more sustained injuries before the militant was gunned down and said that no other encounter took place in Sopore or any other place in Kashmir valley on October 20.

  • October 16: SFs killed three militants of the LeT outfit in the in the Lancha area of Ramban district. While two of the slain militants were identified as Rafeeq and Liyaqat, the identity of the third was not known.

  • October 14: SFs arrested three hardcore militants of the LeT after an encounter at Pattimal in the Kishtwar district and recovered a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives from their possession. They were identified as Nissar Ahmed alias Abu Maaz, Ghulam Mohammed Shah alias Abu Qasim and Farooq Ahmed. Three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, 120 rounds, one Chinese grenade, two mobile telephones, five letter heads of the LeT outfit and some incriminating documents were recovered from their possession. Deputy Inspector General of Police (Doda range) Farooq Khan said that the arrests were made after SFs had launched a search operation in Pattimal after securing specific input about the movement of three LeT militants, who had been operating in the Dachan, Pattimal and Palmar areas for the last three years.

  • October 11-12: Two suicide bombers were killed and three paramilitary personnel wounded in a suicide attack on a CRPF camp near the Dal Lake in capital Srinagar. The two heavily armed suicide militants entered into the makeshift battalion headquarters of the CRPF on October 11. Police and CRPF personnel on October 12 killed the two suicide bombers. The spokesman of the LeT, Abdullah Ghaznavi, in a satellite telephonic conversation from Pakistan claimed that fidayeen (suicide squad) of his group had stormed the camp.

  • October 10: A ‘battalion commander’ of the LeT outfit, identified as Sabzar Ahmed Mir a.k.a. Muntazim, was killed in an encounter at Chak Cholan in the Pulwama district.

  • October 8: The police and Rashtriya Rifles personnel shot dead a militant of the LeT, identified as Abu Usman (junior), at Gangabug forest in Kupwara district.

  • October 5-6: Security forces killed Abu Furqan, LeT ‘district commander’ for Anantnag, during an encounter at Chitragam village in the Shopian district on October 5. The gun battle ended with the death of one soldier on October 6.

  • October 5: Jammu and Kashmir Police sources stated that Mohammed. Sadik alias Sibly, a person belonging to Thoubal district, is a cadre of the LeT outfit. He was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police along with an AK rifle on August 30, 2007. He had reportedly gone from Manipur to Jammu and Kashmir to pursue Islamic studies and become a Moulvi (Islamic cleric). Later he joined the LeT outfit.

  • October 4: In an encounter between militants of the LeT and SFs at Gamroo in the Bandipora district, two militants, identified as ‘divisional commander’ Moosa alias Abu Wafa and ‘chief operational commander’ Qasim Bhatti, and a Junior Commissioned Officer of the Army, Subash, were killed. Moosa had engineered most of the attacks on Police and civilian targets in capital Srinagar in the last one year. He had also been instrumental in a number of grenade attacks and IED blasts in the Bandipora, Ganderbal and Srinagar districts.

  • October 2: Nine LeT militants, including the outfit’s ‘divisional commander’ of the Tangmarg-Beerwah belt, Bilal Afghani alias Chhota Bilal, and two of his close associates, Mohammad Sultan Bhat alias Rayees Khan and Janbaz Afghani, were killed during an encounter between militants and SFs in the Tangmarg-Beerwah belt of Baramulla district. One officer of the Rashtriya Rifles (34 Battalion), Major K. P. Vinay was killed on the spot, while another one, identified as Major Dinesh Raghuraman, who was among five other soldiers injured, died of his injuries later. "They offered tough resistance for all 38 hours of the gun battle. They are all unidentified but we believe, they are all Pakistani cadres of Lashkar-e-Toiba [LeT]," informed Commander of Sector 12 of Rashtriya Rifles, Brigadier, Kuldip Singh. LeT spokesman, Abdullah Ghaznavi, confirmed in a satellite telephonic conversation from Pakistan that nine militants of his outfit were killed in the 38-hour-long gun-battle in Tangmarg. He claimed that the militants killed 12 soldiers, including two Majors, and wounded 15 others.

  • October 1: Doda police arrested three fresh recruits of the LeT outfit from Doda. These youths had been lured into militancy by a local LeT activist, Bashir Ahmed Ganaie. Police also arrested four motivators of militants from Doda. They were motivating youths to join LeT and HM outfits. Police also rescued eight youths from captivity of the militants.

  • September 28: Unconfirmed reports indicated that three SF personnel were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast triggered by the militants at Devbagh in the Budgam district. LeT spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi claimed that seven soldiers were killed.

  • September 27: SF personnel rescued six teenagers from the custody of militants in the Patnazi area of Doda district. They had been kidnapped on September 17 by LeT militants for taking them across the Line of Control for arms training.

    Security forces arrested two militants of the LeT as soon as they infiltrated into Indian territory from village Damoi Kas in the Poonch district along with a large quantity of arms and ammunition.

  • September 26: Troops killed two LeT militants, identified as Abdul Rasheed and Liaquat Ali alias Furqan, at Gool in the Ramban district.

  • September 25: At least two LeT militants and a soldier, Varinder Kumar Sharma, were killed during an encounter that ensued after security forces launched a search operation at Khewri in the Rajouri district.

    Abu Kasha alias Tango 9, a LeT ‘area commander’ for Rajouri district, was shot dead by the SFs at Sanyara Mohalla in the Surankote area of Poonch district.

    Two more LeT cadres, identified as Gazi Ahmed Mir and Abdur Rehman Sani alias Hanzla of Pakistan, were killed by the troops at Shopian in the Pulwama district.

  • September 24: A top militant of the LeT, identified as Abu Israr, and a Special Police Officer, Shah Hussain, were killed in an encounter at Sanyara Mohalla in the Surankote area of Poonch district.

  • September 23: One suspected Pakistani cadre of the LeT outfit was killed by SF personnel at Shiva village in the Sopore area of Baramula district.

  • September 20: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of the LeT, called for intensification of "jehad in Kashmir and Afghanistan" to "strengthen Pakistan's Defence."

  • September 19: Three SF personnel, including one identified as Shri Kumar, were killed and 20 others injured when terrorists ambushed a security convoy along Srinagar-Leh road at Gunwani-Gund in Sonamarg of Srinagar district. Three army buses were also damaged in the attack. Terrorists reportedly attacked with grenades and later opened fire with automatic weapons. Meanwhile, the LeT outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

  • September 18: Two LeT militants, including ‘section commander’ Shamsher Khan alias Rezwan, a Pakistani national, and his accomplice, Aijaz alias Bhai alias Shamsher, were killed while five SF personnel, including a Major, sustained injuries in a day-long gun battle at village Chinot in the Bhadarwah tehsil (administrative division) of Doda district.

  • September 17: One Pakistani cadre of the LeT, identified as Abu Azad alias Gafari, was shot dead by SF personnel at village Gundha under Budhal police station in the Rajouri district. One of his associates managed to escape from the incident site.

    One LeT cadre, Nisar Ahmed Dar alias Saajid, was arrested from an unspecified place under Sopore police station in the Baramulla district. Following his interrogation, three over ground workers, identified as Abdul Hameed Shah alias Hassan, Mushtaq Ahmed Changa alias Shahid and Muzaffar Ahmed Saboon alias Zubair, were arrested.

  • September 16: Suspected LeT militants opened fire on a security convoy at Spurnag in the Handwara area of Kupwara district. The convoy of the Rashtriya Rifles was on its way to a forward area from Baramulla. No fatalities were reported.

    In the Sopore area of Baramulla district, security forces and the LeT militants exchanged fire in the Model Town area. Superintendent of Police, Imtiyaz Hussain said that the raid was conducted following information on two LeT militants, Saifullah and Abu Zarrar, who had laid an ambush and were likely to attack a military convoy. In the exchange of fire, Abu Zarrar sustained injuries but both the militants managed to escape leaving behind a mobile phone. Official sources said there were no fatalities on the security force side.

  • September 14: A Pakistani cadre of the LeT, Abu Mursad, was killed by SFs at Tujjar Sharif village near Sopore in the Baramulla district. Another terrorist, who sustained injuries, managed to escape from the incident site.

  • September 13: Four LeT terrorists, including one ‘district commander’ Lal Din Gujjar, were shot dead by SF personnel during an encounter at Trinnar Nala area of Kishtwar district. Three others were identified as Umar Din, Kasih and Ghulam Qadir.

    Confirming the death penalty awarded to Pakistani LeT militant Mohammed Ashfaq in the seven-year-old Red Fort attack case, the Delhi High Court said that terrorists, who have no value for human lives, deserved the capital punishment. The court, however, acquitted six other persons, including the Srinagar-based father-and-son duo Nazir Ahmed Qasid and Farooq Ahmed Qasid, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Ashfaq’s Indian wife Rehamana Yosuf Farooqui. She was given a seven-year jail term. Ashfaq and five other LeT militants, on the night of December 22, 2000, had sneaked into the Red Fort premises and opened indiscriminate firing killing three persons, including two Army personnel.

  • September 12: Police in the capital Srinagar claimed to have foiled a suicide attack with the arrest of three LeT militants. Mohammad Maqbool Mir alias Shaheen, Ishfaq Ahmad Fazili alias Khand Peer and Ishtiyaq Ahmad Rather alias Billa were arrested from the Karan Nagar locality where one of them had acquired a house on rent. The Superintendent of Police (Special Operations Group) stated that they were planning to carry out a suicide attack on a Police or paramilitary target in the capital city.

  • September 10: At least one soldier, Pawan Kumar, is reported to have died in a gunfight with militants in the Rajwar area of Kupwara district. Spokesman of the LeT, Abdullah Ghaznavi, claimed that five soldiers, including an officer, were killed and eight more were injured in the attack. He claimed that militants of the LeT, Al-Badr and JeM had already occupied a position usually held by troops and launched the attack when a column of army was on way to launch an operation.

    Two armed LeT militants, Imtiyaz Hussain and Niaz Ahmed, and accompanied by their local sympathisers intruded into the house of Mohammed Amin at Tanta in the Doda district and reportedly assaulted Amin and his daughter. Even as police personnel from the nearby post rushed to the spot and engaged the militants in an encounter, they managed to escape.

    Police arrested three LeT militants, who had recently been recruited into the outfit and given arms training in Sopore (Baramulla district), from village Cheera under the jurisdiction of Thathri police station in Doda district. Their recruiting agent, identified as Akhter Hussain, was also apprehended. The arrested militants were identified as Gulshan Ahmed Magrey, Manzoor Ahmed Wani and Nissar Ahmed Parrey, all residents of village Tanta.

  • September 9: Four suspected foreign militants of the LeT outfit were shot dead by SF personnel and two others escaped after they managed to sneak from across the LoC into the Machil Sector of Kupwara district.

    Tanweer Ahmad, a locally trained LeT militant, was arrested from the Sogam area in Kupwara district.

    September 4: A LeT militant, Khursheed Ahmed, who was injured in an encounter with the SFs at Krawa forests in the Ramban district on September 2, died in the forests and his body was recovered on September 4.

  • September 3: A soldier of the Territorial Army was wounded when suspected militants triggered an IED blast inside the shop of Army contractor Ghulam Mohiuddin at Bumhama in the periphery of Kupwara town. Abdullah Ghaznavi, spokesperson of the LeT, claimed responsibility for the attack.

  • September 2: One LeT militant, Asif Ali Sheikh alias Soba, was shot dead by SF personnel at Gund Adaikot in the Ramban district.

    Two LeT cadres, Naseer Ahmed Beig alias Raju Beig and Mukhtiar Ahmed, while taking Hawala money worth INR 300000 for their ‘commander’, Ashiq Hussain, were arrested from Passari forest area under Bhaderwah police station in the Doda district. They were working as over-ground workers for the outfit and used to shift Hawala money and arms for the militants.

    The Hyderabad Police filed a new FIR charging 15 persons for their involvement in the August 25 twin blasts in the city. All of them were booked under the Explosives Act and for conspiring to carry out bomb attacks. Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said that only four of the 15 suspects are in police custody. HuJI-BD ‘commander’ Shahid Bilal is among the 11 who are out of the police custody. The new FIR is largely based on the revelations of Sameer Sheikh alias Nayeem, an alleged LeT operative arrested on the Bangladesh border in West Bengal on April 1, 2007. He is also an accused in the Mumbai train blasts case. Nayeem reportedly told investigators that he transported intruders and 10 kilograms of RDX from Bangladesh to Mumbai and Hyderabad over the 18 months period prior to his arrest.

  • September 1: Roshan Din alias Abu Darda, an ‘area commander’ of the LeT was killed by Reasi police and army at Nakka Pathri in the Gulabgarh area of Udhampur district.. Abu Darda was active since 2000 and was involved in a number of militant activities in Gool-Gulabgarh-Mahore belt.

  • August 30: One LeT militant hailing from Manipur, Mohammed Sadeeq, was arrested from the Dudu-Basantgarh area of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir on an unspecified date. "Mohd Sadeeq, a resident of Foibal in Manipur, was arrested in Dudu-Basantgarh belt of Kathua district last week," said Kuldeep Khoda, the Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir. According to police sources, he is the first Bangladesh-trained militant from the Northeast to be arrested in Jammu and Kashmir. He reportedly attended training camps with al Qaeda operatives in Bangladesh. The report added that Sadeeq was initially picked up for al Qaeda outfit, but was later sent to Jammu and Kashmir along with a group of 10 to 15 militants, as the LeT was facing a shortage of cadres there.

  • August 28: Police are investigating the connection of two Hyderabad based operatives of the LeT with the HuJI in connection with the twin blasts in Hyderabad on August 25.

  • August 23: A LeT militant, identified as Abdul Hafiz a.k.a. Bashir Ahmed Mallah, a resident of Koti in the Doda district who was involved in several killings, surrendered before the police. Senior Superintendent of Police of Doda, Manohar Singh, said that Bashir had joined militancy in 2003 and was active in Doda and adjoining Bharat, Kulhand, Koti and Dessa areas.

  • August 20: Two militants of the LeT outfit were killed in a day-long encounter with the SFs at Ganevpora-Hablipora village in the Shopian district.

  • August 19: A hardcore LeT militant, Abu Bakar, was arrested by police from village Dudu under the jurisdiction of Basantgarh police station in Udhampur district

  • August 12: A hardcore militant of the LeT, Rehman Saani alias Hanzulla, a Pakistani national, was killed by the SF personnel at Hiff-Khour in the Zainapora area of Pulwama district.

    SFs arrested Gafoor Khan, an over-ground worker of the LeT, from the Lolab area of Kupwara district.

  • August 9: Militants fired upon at a convoy of Army at Sheeri near Baramulla. The troops retaliated and the exchange of fire lasted for about 15 minutes. However, there was no report of any casualty. The LeT has claimed responsibility for the attack.

  • August 8: SF personnel shot dead an ‘operations commander’ of the LeT, identified as Taib alias Abu Talah, during an encounter at Hanjipora in the Kupwara district. One solider, one police personnel and a civilian, Tariq Ahmad, sustained injuries during the encounter.

  • August 7: Police arrested a LeT militant, identified as Manzoor Ahmed, from a hide-out at Cham Dhar in the Doda district.

    Security forces arrested a civilian allegedly working for the LeT in the Banihal area of Ramban district.

  • August 6: A court in New Delhi sentenced two LeT militants, Shahid Ahmed Bakshi, a resident of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Farhan Ahmed Ali, a resident of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for possessing arms and explosives. The court had held them guilty on July 30 under various provisions of the erstwhile POTA pertaining to unauthorised possession of arms, ammunition and explosives. Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur also fined the militants INR 50,000 each. The militants were arrested at Nizamuddin in New Delhi on August 30, 2002, with four kilograms of RDX, two detonators and a Chinese-made pistol along with magazine and 15 live cartridges.

    Two top LeT militants, including an Afghan national, were shot dead by police in an encounter in the Gandoh area of Doda district. The slain militants were identified as John Mohammed (code name Bilal), a resident of Kunthal and Abu Shakeel Afghani, a foreign mercenary.

  • August 5: During an encounter that ensued after SFs launched a cordon-and-search operation at Pazipora Chak in the Handwara area of Kupwara district, a LeT terrorist, identified as Abu Talib alias Usama, was killed. However, one of his associates managed to escape from the incident site.

  • August 2: Two infiltrators were killed by the troops at Sanga in the Krishna Ghati area of Poonch district. Official sources said troops had observed the movement of a group of infiltrators near Hawai Post of Army at Sanga and in the ensuing encounter two infiltrators were killed while the rest of their associates managed to escape. The slain militants were believed to be Pakistanis belonging to the LeT outfit.

  • July 31-August 1: The Army foiled an infiltration attempt near Ghodetal in the Uri sector of Baramulla district by killing all the eight terrorists. In the gun-battle, Colonel V. Vasant, a Commanding Officer of 9 Maratha Light Infantry, and a soldier, Lance Naik B. S. Ganapat, were also killed and a soldier wounded. Deputy Inspector General of Police (North Kashmir), B. Srinivas, said that the entire eight-member group of LeT infiltrators had been neutralized by the SFs in a 60-hour-long operation.

  • July 31: Two youths, Jamsheed Ahmed and Shoaib Mohammed, were rescued from the captivity of LeT by the troops in the Bagla Bharat area of Doda district.

  • July 30: The Doda district police arrested two new recruits of the LeT outfit during a raid conducted at Patnazi. They were identified as Aftab Ahmed and Mohammed Hashim.

  • July 26: In the first Fidayeen (suicide squad) attack since October 2006, SFs killed both the militants at an encampment on the premises of Bhaba Atomic Research Centre at Zakoora on the outskirts of capital Srinagar. Director General of Police, Kuldeep Khoda, informed that two LeT militants made an unsuccessful attempt to sneak into a formation of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force at the defunct BARC facility at Zakoora. Both the militants, who emerged from a deserted orchard, lobbed hand grenades and opened gunfire on the pillboxes in the rear of the camp. Even as eight soldiers sustained injuries, the troops shot dead both the militants and also recovered two AK-56 rifles and three hand grenades from their possession. He said that one of the slain militants was identified as Feroz Ahmed Khan, a resident of Kangan in the Kashmir valley, and another was believed to be a Pakistani national. A LeT spokesman, Abdullah Ghaznavi claimed responsibility of the two-and-a-half-hour-long attacks and reportedly identified the slain militants as Feroz Khan alias Abu Muslim and a "guest militant" Abu Ma'az.

  • July 25: More than a dozen Muslims, including at least one Pakistani and several US citizens of Pakistani-origin, have been sentenced to imprisonment for their association with the Pakistan-based LeT and for conspiracy to wage jihad against India. Although one of the convicts, 32-year old Sabri Benkahla, of Falls Church, Virginia, became a state witness, he too was sentenced this week to 121 months in federal prison, and ordered to pay a $17,500 fine. He was found guilty of perjury before the grand jury and of making false official statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including his denial of involvement with an overseas jihad training camp in 1999, as well as his asserted lack of knowledge about individuals with whom he was in contact. Most of the convicts attended the Dar al Arqam Islamic Centre in Falls Church, Virginia. In June 2003, Benkahla and 10 others were indicted by a grand jury in Alexandria for conspiring to attack Indian troops in Kashmir and the Russians in Chechnya in the course of training for jihad in Virginia and Pakistan. Among the defendants, Masaud Khan, Seifullah Chapman, Randall Royer, Ibrahim Al-Hamdi, Muhammed Aatique, Yong Kwon, and Khwaja Hasan, were alleged to have attended jihad training camps operated by the LeT in 2000 and 2001. In September 2003, Khan and Royer were charged with conspiring to wage war against the United States, aid the Taliban, aid al Qaeda, and Khan, Royer, Chapman, and Hammad Abdur-Raheem were charged with providing assistance to the LeT.

  • July 23: The Doda district police neutralized a LeT hideout at Seoj Dhar under the jurisdiction of Bhadarwah police station and recovered five kilograms of RDX, two under barrel grenade launchers, nine hand grenades, 300 AK rounds, 12 SLR rounds, four AK magazines, one radio set, three detonators, ration items and accessories of explosive devices. However, no arrests were made from the hideout.

  • July 23: Official sources said a group of LeT militants abducted and later killed Javid Iqbal, a cadre of the HM, from Kither Bonjwa in the Gandoh area of Doda district. According to sources, Iqbal had surrendered before the security forces about two years back. However, he rejoined the HM group about six months back.

  • July 22: A LeT militant, identified as Mohammed Shaffi, was killed in an encounter with the SFs at village Sangan in the Banihal area of Ramban district. However, one of his associates managed to escape from the encounter site.

  • July 18: Mohammad Khalid-ur-Rahman, a Pakistani national who played a core role in organising the LeT’s pan-India terror network, was killed in a shootout with police and troops near Bhaderwah in the Doda district. A woman was also killed when the militant lobbed grenade on a house to take refuge there.

  • July 17: Two Army soldiers, identified as Hari Kishore and P.T. Vasant, were killed and eight others injured when a group of five Pakistani cadres of the LeT ambushed a convoy of Rashtriya Rifles in the Belni forests - between Tota Gali and Bhatta Durian area – of Surankote tehsil in the Poonch district. The ambush followed a heavy exchange of gun fighting between troops and militants for two hours but the militants, who had taken position atop the hills, managed to escape.

    VDC members of village Bagiyana killed another LeT terrorist. A defence spokesman said that VDC members noticed movement of a terrorist in the Bagiyana nullah. When the militant was challenged, he opened fire which was retaliated by the VDC members. In the ensuing fire fight, the terrorist, identified as Ghulam Mohammad, was killed.

  • July 16: Doda police arrested three hardcore over-ground workers of the LeT outfit, including two Government employees. They were identified as Ghulam Rasool alias Doctor, Rayees Ahmed Natnoo and Tariq Saleem.

  • July 7: A Pakistani militant of the LeT, identified as Abu Haider Zarar, operating in the Surankote area for last three years, was killed inside a house while his two body-guards escaped during an encounter with troops of Rashtriya Rifles at village Dandian