Jammu: The Lashkar-e-Toiba's top commander Abu Thalla was killed in Jammu and Kashmir early on Wednesday, a move that police believe would strike at the core of the militant group's operations in the state.
Thalla, allegedly responsible for the massacres of 35 Hindus in Basantgarh in Udhampur and Kulhand in Doda on April 30-May 1 last year, was shot dead by police personnel in Hiranagar, 60 km from Jammu.
Police said he was killed in Hiranagar's Safai area, where he was trying to set up a network of his group.
Thalla was said to be the topmost Lashkar leader in Jammu. He had been orchestrating massacres, IED explosions targeting security forces as well as recruiting men for his group all over the state, particularly in Jammu region, a senior official said.
Twenty-two Hindus were killed in the hilly hamlet of Kulhand on the intervening night of April 30 and May 1, 2006.
A few hours before that, 13 Hindu shepherds were killed in Basantgarh, a hilly feature in Udhampur district. The massacres were the worst in the last three years.
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