Amarnath Yatra attack mastermind Abu Ismail killed in J&K's Nowgam

Srinagar: In a big development, dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Amarnath terror attack mastermind Abu Ismail was on Thursday killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowgam area. 

Apart from Abu Ismail, another militant, who was accused of an attack on the pilgrims, was also gunned down by the security forces. 

Reacting on the development, CRPF director general said, "This is a huge achievement. The terrorist was responsible for the attack on Amarnath Yatra."

"Congratulate team. It hardly took half an hour to complete operation. He was one of our prime targets," Muneer Ahmed Khan, IPS IGP Kashmir said. 

The encounter took place at Aarigam, Nowgam in outskirts of Srinagar.

LeT commander Abu Ismail & another terrorist killed by security forces in Nowgam. Ismail was involved in Amarnath attack (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/ZcINJWHHdG — ANI (@ANI) September 14, 2017

LeT militant and Pakistani national Ismail was the mastermind of the Amarnath yatra attack that killed eight pilgrims in July this year. 

In August, he replaced Lashkar chief Abu Dujana after he was killed in an encounter in Pulwama. He was serving as the LeT operational chief in the valley.