Pahalgam attack aftermath: Houses of three suspected terrorists razed in south Kashmir

Srinagar: The houses of three suspected terrorists have been razed by authorities in the Kashmir Valley. It is seen as a crackdown on terrorism days after the dastardly Pahalgam attack in which 26 people were killed. Officials on Saturday said that houses of the alleged terrorists were demolished in Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir on Friday night. Earlier, the houses of two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, including that of the Pahalgam terror attack's prime suspect, were destroyed when explosives believed to be stored there went off during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

On Friday night, the house of Ahsan ul Haq Sheikh in the Muran area of Pulwama district was torn down, officials said, adding that he was "trained in Pakistan" in 2018 and had recently "infiltrated" into the Valley. In a similar action in Chotipora of the Shopian district, the house of an active top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Shahid Ahmad Kuttay was razed, they said. Kuttay, active for the past three to four years, has been involved in many anti-national activities, the officials claimed. At the Matalhama area of the Kulgam district, the residence of Zakir Ahmad Ganie, who has been active since 2023 and was under surveillance for his alleged involvement in multiple terror-related activities, was also pulled down during the night, they said. With this, five residences of alleged terrorists have been razed. On Friday, the houses of Aadil Hussain Thokar, accused of helping in the execution of the Pahalgam bloodbath, and Asif Sheikh, also believed to be involved in the attack, were being searched by security forces when an explosion damaged the structures in Bijbehara and Tral. Explosives were supposedly found on the premises during the search operation, prompting the security forces to evacuate the occupants of the houses as well as neighbours to safety before they went off.