Srinagar: Zakir Musa, the former Hizb ul Mujahideen commander, in a clip whose authenticity is not confirmed, while paying rich tributes to militant commander Abu Dujana and his associate Arif Lelhari has said that they are the “first martyrs of jihad movement” he is leading.
He also announced his affiliation with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and termed both the slain as premier members in its making.
Al-Qaeda’s militant commander Zakir Musa on Friday has allegedly claimed that Abu Dujana was the “first martyr” in the ‘war for an Islamic Kashmir’ and had helped set up an Al-Qaeda cell in India.
Zakir Rashid Bhat, nicknamed Zakir Musa, is a Kashmiri militant. He was appointed “commander” after the encounter of former commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Burhan Muzaffar Wani by the Indian Armed forces, which led to the 2016 Kashmir Unrest.
In July 2017, The Tribune, an online news agency, claimed that Zakir Musa was named as the head of the newly created outfit called Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a newly created cell of al-Qaeda.
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Kashmir militant commander Abu Dujana, was killed by Indian Armed Forces during an encounter in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday morning. Dujana’s aide Arif was also killed in the operation.
Abu Dujana and his associate Arif Lelhari were killed at Hakripora Kakapora village of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Musa in a 2 minute purported audio message (the authenticity of which is not confirmed) that has gone viral on social media says: “In the making of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, they played a key role and became first martyrs of this Jihad movement.”
In the audio clip he says that “When Dujana joined us, the so called bosses of Jihad in Pakistan placed a number of hurdles for him.”
He termed the slain duo as “Mard-e-Hurr”, fighting for one God.
(With inputs from CNS)
