List of top terrorists in Valley released, includes al Qaeda Kashmir chief Zakir Musa

Srinagar: Days after killing Amarnath terror attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Ismail during an encounter in Srinagar, the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir released a list of top five dreaded terrorists who are active in the Valley. 

The security forces have planned to neutralise these five terrorists within a month. 

Zakir Musa

One of the most wanted terrorists in the Valley, Zakir Musa is the Al-Qaeda Kashmir chief. He joined Al Qaeda after having a fallout with Hizbul Mujahideen. 20-year-old, Musa was named Wani’s successor to lead the Hizbul group in the Valley, but he broke off and formed Taliban-e-Kashmir.

Riyaz Naikoo

Riyaz Naikoo belongs to A++ category in the wanted list of terrorists. He is the new chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen. Armed and dangerous, the security forces are on the lookout for him. Tech-savvy Naikoo is considered a moderate among the hardline Hizbul terrorists. He favours a secular society in the valley.

He is 29-yr-old and took over following the death of Yasin Ittoo in the encounter last month. He is a native of Avantipura and was recently spotted at a funeral of a slain terrorist. 

Saddam Peddar

Salim alias Zaid is the Hizbul Mujahideen's district commander in Shopian. He is a resident of Shrimal in Shopian and was recruited into the outfit in September 2015. 

He was part of the Burhan Wani camp. After Musa's exit from Hizbul, Peddar has emerged as the top commander of the outfit. Peddar is one of the 12 terrorists in the photo, that slain terrorist Burhan Wani shared on his social networking account. 

Peddar was last spotted at another terrorist Nasir Wani's funeral in the Valley. 

Zeenat-ul-Islam: 

The 28-year-old resident of Shopian joined the Lashkar-e-Toiba in 2015. After Ismail's death, Islam is touted to become the next commander of the outfit. He is a native of Shopian's Jenipura and is believed to be the mastermind behind the Shopian terror attack in which three jawans lost their lives.

A former member of the al-Badr terror group, he is an expert bomb maker. 

Khalid

A resident of Pakistan, the police suspect that Khalid could be Abu Hamas. He is the divisional commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad and has been active in the north Kashmir's Shopian since 2016. 

He is believed to the mastermind behind the attack on the District police Lines in south Kashmir in which eight security personnel including four policemen were killed.