Revenge Extracted: Pahalgam Attack Main Executor Gunned Down by Army

A former Pak army commando Suleiman Shah was killed even as Parliament was debating Operation Sindoor

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Three terrorists, including the main executor of the April 22 Pahalgam massacre, were killed by security forces in intense firefight on Monday. The firefight occurred even as Parliament was debating Operation Sindoor—launched in the wake of the massacre of 26 civilians in Pahalgam by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists almost 98 days ago.

The Chinar Corps of the Indian Army first announced the establishment of contact with the terrorists at around 12:45 PM on Monday, and an hour later, stated that the three had been eliminated in an intense firefight. The operation was codenamed 'Operation Mahadev', a reference to Lord Shiva.

While an official confirmation on the identities of the terrorists was still awaited till late Monday night, sources told The Daily Guardian that one of them was Suleiman Shah, who had led the brutal attack on unarmed civilians in Pahalgam.

The encounter took place in the Harwan area near Dachigam National Park in Srinagar, roughly 40 km, as the crow flies, from the Pahalgam massacre site.

According to sources, Suleiman Shah was a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and a former commando in the Pakistan Army's elite Special Service Group (SSG). He later joined the UN-designated terrorist group led by Hafiz Saeed.