Who is Yasir, the Pakistani terrorist killed in Operation Ashdar with Indian Army?
J&K Police have identified the militant killed in a recent Budgam encounter as Yasir, a Pakistani national and a key member of Lashkar-e-Taiba
Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed that Yasir, a Pakistani national and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, was killed in a counter-terrorism operation in Budgam, central Kashmir. Yasir was linked to several significant terror attacks in 2024, including an ambush near Gulmarg that resulted in the deaths of five individuals, among them three Indian Army soldiers.
Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed that Yasir, a Pakistani national and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, was killed in a counter-terrorism operation in Budgam, central Kashmir. Yasir was linked to several significant terror attacks in 2024, including an ambush near Gulmarg that resulted in the deaths of five individuals, among them three Indian Army soldiers.
Jammu and Kashmir Police confirmed that Yasir, a Pakistani national and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, was killed in a counter-terrorism operation in Budgam, central Kashmir. Yasir was linked to several significant terror attacks in 2024, including an ambush near Gulmarg that resulted in the deaths of five individuals, among them three Indian Army soldiers.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police, on Saturday, identified the militant slain in an encounter with the Army and other security forces in central Kashmir's Budgam district as Pakistani resident Yasir.
“You can run but you can't hide! The terrorist neutralised during Op Ashdar has been identified as Yasir, a Pakistani national of Lashkar-e-Taiba,” Jammu & Kashmir Police said in a tweet.
The Army had launched the operation after tracking movement patterns of a suspected militant group heading from Ashdar Gali in Poonch towards Pakherpora in Pulwama via Yousmarg in Budgam.
The Army tracked the group's movements across high-altitude mountain passes in the Pir Panjal range. The troops trekked nearly 10 hours from the Doodhpathri area to reach the location where the encounter took place.
Media reports now suggest that the slain militant was a Lashkar-e-Taiba member. According to a report by news agency PTI, Yasir was part of the terror group led by Junaid Ahmed Bhat, a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, who was shot dead by security forces on December 3, 2024, in Dachigam forest on the outskirts of Srinagar.
On October 24, 2024, Yasir and other terrorists ambushed an Indian Army vehicle in the Bota Pathri area near Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir, killing five people, including three soldiers.
The officials said Yasir had crossed to the north of the Pir Panjal range to meet Junaid, and since the Bota Pathri encounter, he and Musa, another Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, had been hiding in the Yusmarg and Pulwama belts. They returned south of the Pir Panjal range in the Jammu region last year, only to re-enter the Valley earlier this month.
According to the officials, Yasir's presence was first detected in 2024. Inputs suggest his involvement in at least three major terror incidents in 2024: an ambush of an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch district, an attack on construction workers near Sonamarg, and an attack on the army in Bota Pathri.