ISJK militant killed in gunfight with LeT

A militant affiliated with Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) is believed to have been killed in a group clash with Lashkar-e-Taiba ultras in Sirhama village of Bijbehara in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Wednesday night.

Reports said the body of Aadil Rehman Dass of ISJK was found near a hillock in mysterious circumstances in Sirhama area, 50 km from here.

“He (Dass) was killed in a group clash with LeT militants as he had recently switched sides. The LeT then decided to get the weapon back from Dass which he may not have accepted and was killed,” sources said.

Dass had reportedly joined the LeT last year in July before switching sides to ISJK.

Locals said that they heard few gunshots from a nearby area without knowing what actually had happened in the area. There was no official version about the incident so far.

The ISJK was founded by Mugais Mir and Dawood Salfi of Srinagar after parting ways with Tehreek-ul- Mujahideen militant outfit in 2016. Mir and Salafi were killed in separate encounters in 2017.

While different security agencies have so far offered differing perspectives on the presence of Islamic State in J&K, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Swam Prakash Pani on June 23 said that four militants killed Daramdora area of Keegam in Shopian were part of a “terrorist gang” only inspired by the IS ideology.

Earlier in May, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a charge sheet filed in a Jammu court said that Islamic State unit in Kashmir has a Pakistani connection. The NIA filed a charge sheet against four ISJK militants - Tahir Ahmad Khan, Haris Mushtaq Khan, Asif Suhail Nadaf and Asif Majid - on May 22.