^{Longest surviving Kashmiri terrorist killed at LoC}

SRINAGAR: Abdul Qayoom Najjar, described as the longest surviving Kashmiri terrorist, was killed on Tuesday morning by security forces while trying to infiltrate into Kashmir from the Uri sector. He was living in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir since 2015.
A resident of Sopore in Baramulla, 43-year-old Qayoom was trying to enter the Valley from Lachipora in the same district along the Line of Control.
“The slain terrorist was responsible for several innocent killings and was also involved in dozens of terror activities, like attacking mobile dealers in Srinagar city,” IG police (Kashmir range) Munir Khan said. There was a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to his arrest or killing.
Qayoom, who was active over two decades in the Valley, was affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen as a top commander till 2015. He later formed his own outfit, Lashkar-e-Islam, which carried out a series of attacks on mobile towers and killed several people, including a Hurriyat activist, for alleged links with the security forces.
Qayoom left Hizb in May 2015 after a dispute with the outfit’s chief Syed Salahudin over demand for more money to run terror operations in the Valley. The feud worsened when Qayoom warned mobile operators in Sopore town to shut down and killed local Hurriyat activist Sheikh Altaf-ur-Rehman. Qayoom had also holed up in Jammu in September 2015 before his escape to PoK.
Turning into a militant when he was just 16, Qayoom had received arms training in PoK in early 1990s. He was arrested in 1992 and became an active militant again on his release in 1995.
According to an intelligence officer, Qayoom changed his appearance by using wigs and impersonation to deceive the security agencies. “He never trusted anyone and even created fear in the minds of the people who knew him,” the officer added.
Qayoom never used mobile phones or telephone due to the fear of getting caught. The security forces had almost nabbed him at Delina village on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway in 2015, but he managed to escape.
His group included terrorists from Pattan, Baramulla and Handwara in north Kashmir. Although Hizb had blamed the security agencies for these attacks, these killings were linked to Qayoom and his associate Imtiyaz Kundoo.