[Riyaz Naikoo, the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in a joint operation by Indian forces, according to a senior security official in New Delhi who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. Naikoo’s death was also confirmed on Twitter by a police official and a member of Parliament.]
By Joanna Slater and Niha Masih
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An Indian soldier walks through the village of Beighpora in south Kashmir’s
Pulwama district on Wednesday. (Farooq Khan/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
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NEW DELHI — Security forces on Wednesday killed the commander of a militant group in Kashmir, eliminating a leading figure in the long-running anti-India insurgency amid a recent surge of violence in the disputed territory.
Riyaz Naikoo, the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in a joint operation by Indian forces, according to a senior security official in New Delhi who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. Naikoo’s death was also confirmed on Twitter by a police official and a member of Parliament.
Hizbul Mujahideen is the largest of the three main militant groups in Kashmir, a majority-Muslim region claimed by both India and Pakistan. For three decades, militants in the Indian-controlled portion have fought either to become independent or join Pakistan. In 2017, the United States designated Hizbul Mujahideen a terrorist organization.
In the aftermath of Naikoo’s killing, protesters threw stones at security forces in the village of Beighpora where the gunfight took place, according to local media reports. Indian authorities also suspended Internet service, text messaging and most mobile phone networks across the Kashmir Valley to quell potential unrest.
Like the rest of India, the territory of Kashmir is under lockdown to combat the spread of the coronavirus. In recent weeks, however, Kashmir has witnessed its most significant spike in violence in months. Dozens of security personnel and militants have been killed in gunfights while India and Pakistan have traded mortars and small-arms fire across the unofficial frontier dividing the territory.
Last August, India broke with seven decades of policy toward Kashmir, stripping the region of its autonomy and statehood. The government sent in thousands of additional troops, snapped all communication links and arrested mainstream politicians.
India accuses Pakistan of training and arming militants and helping them slip across the frontier that divides Kashmir. Pakistan denies such accusations, but militant groups fighting in Kashmir have operated openly in Pakistani territory.
India and Pakistan regularly shoot at each other’s forces across the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir, a situation that some analysts have called “a war by other means.” Such provocations have intensified this year, violating an official cease-fire between the two nations. Ceasefire violations in the first four months of 2020 increased 67 percent over the same period in 2019, according to Indian data.
Formerly a math teacher, Naikoo joined the militancy in 2012 to fight India’s “brutal occupation” of Kashmir, he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. He gained a following on social media and sometimes came out of hiding to deliver fiery speeches at funerals of fellow militants.
Indian authorities said that Naikoo played a key role in the killings of several police officers and the murders of six migrant workers last fall. His killing is “extremely important” and will lead to a “loss of morale among the terrorist leadership,” D.S. Hooda, a former Indian general, said in an interview with New Delhi Television.
Naikoo reportedly became the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen months after the killing of Burhan Wani, another high-profile militant, in 2016. Wani’s funeral was attended by thousands of people, and his killing set off months of deadly protests in Kashmir.
In recent weeks, authorities in Kashmir have declined to hand over the bodies of local militants to their families for burial, a departure from years of practice. Officials have said the move is to prevent large gatherings at a time when the coronavirus is spreading.
Shams Irfan in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.
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