3 Pak nationals, 2K among 5 terrorists

Investigators on Wednesday identified five terrorists who carried out the deadly attack near Pahalgam town a day ago, including three Pakistani nationals and two residents of Jammu and Kashmir, as authorities stepped up efforts to nab the perpetrators of the worst terror strike to rock the region in nearly two decades.

- Neeraj Chauhan

The agencies identified three Pakistani nationals - Asif Fauji (code name Moosa), Suleman Shah (code name Yunus) and Abu Talha (code name Asif), said people aware of developments. Two other Valley based operatives - Adil Guri, a local from Bijbehara in Anantnag who went to Pakistan in 2018, and Ahsan, a resident of Pulwama who also went to Pakistan in 2018 -- were also identified, said the people cited above.

The Kashmiri operatives recently infiltrated into India after getting years of training in Pakistan, but Fauji and Shah were operating in J&K for some time and were involved in previous attacks as well, including in Poonch, said the investigators.