Three terrorists who attacked a BSF camp in Srinagar were killed after a 10-hour gunbattle.
Security agencies have identified the Jaish-e-Mohammed group commander who planned the
attack on a Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Srinagar this week, Home Ministry sources said on Wednesday.
Three suicide attackers carrying a massive arsenal of guns and explosives had broken into the base near the Srinagar airport before dawn on Tuesday and opened fire
leaving one soldier dead before they were killed after a 10-hour gunbattle.
Pakistan-based terror group Jaish e Mohammed's "Afzal Guru squad" has claimed the attack.
According to reports with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Jaish commander who masterminded the attack goes by the name "Khalid". He is believed to have trained in Pakistan and is now active in north Kashmir's Sopore area.
Jammu Kashmir Police also has identified the person who gave logistic support to Jaish-e-Mohammed attackers.
Sources say a terror convict under Prevention of Terrorism Act or POTA who was released on parole in 2015 had transported the attackers.
"It seems that the group had also done recce not only of Srinagar airport but also of Awantipora. But as they were unable to breach the security cordon around them that is why they chose this camp as around this camp there are no boundary walls," said a senior officer associated with the probe.
Terrorists entered through a cut in the fencing and breached multiple layers of security.
According to him, the group of two dozen Jaish terrorists who entered India in the last week of August were provided with all logistic support by Khalid.
"He is the lone commander who is worth a catch now in the Valley. We have some clues about his whereabouts and are working on them," a senior police officer said.
An Intelligence Bureau report also adds that Khalid is suspected to be have been involved in the suicide attack in District Police Lines in south Kashmir district Pulwama a month ago that killed four CRPF men and four policemen.
His name had cropped up for the first time in October 2016, when the Army busted a JeM module in Baramulla.
Police officials had then said that the module, headed by Khalid, was responsible for the attack on an army convoy in Baramulla in August last year, which killed two Army men and one policeman.
Security agencies say, this year they have killed a number of commanders of the terror outfit due to which now no local commanders remain to execute attacks. That is why Pakistan is now pushing in foreign terrorists in huge numbers, they say.
"These attacks indicate that the backbone of local militants is broken and that is why foreign militants have taken over," a Home Ministry official said.