Top terrorist Khalid killed in Baramulla encounter: Here's why it's a big blow to JeM

Top JeM terrorist Khalid was eliminated by the security forces on Monday in J&K's Baramulla.

Jammu: The killing of Shahid Showkat alias Khalid, a top Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist, by the security forces in a fierce encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla is being seen as a big breakthrough in the Centre's fight against Pakistan-backed terror outfits.

According to reports, Khalid, who was eliminated by the security forces on Monday in J&K's Baramulla, was believed to be involved in a series of suicide attacks in Kashmir.

He was also believed to be involved in the last week's attack near the Srinagar airport, in which a soldier was killed.

Khalid's killing is being viewed as a major success in the fight against Pakistan-backed terror operators, so much that it is being likened to taking away the "eyes and ears" of the dreaded outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which has become the biggest security challenge in Kashmir.

According to media reports, a tip-off from a local Kashmiri woman to the security forces actually led to Khalid's killing in the Baramulla district of north Kashmir.

The slain JeM terrorists was reportedly having an affair with the woman.

Khalid, along with a group of 3-4 Jaish fidayeen, was supposedly on a mission to carry out a "major" suicide attack at a security installation in Kashmir. However, a tip-off from his former lover led the J&K Police to track him down and kill him before the fidayeen mission could be executed. 

Like slain LeT terrorist Abu Dujana, Khalid was also allegedly involved in multiple relationships with local Kashmiri women.

One of his lovers, after learning that his interest had shifted to a new woman, decided to give credible information to police to track his movement with the help of messages they had been sharing via a social media app, reports said. 

On the day of his killing, Khalid was supposed to meet the woman.

However, he slipped into a trap laid out for him by the police and was eventually killed after a firce gunbattle by the security forces.

With Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT suffering major reverses in the recent past, Pakistan-based terror operators had entrusted the task of carrying out terror attacks in the Kashmir Valley to Jaish fidayeen.

The security forces have so far as many as 167 terrorists, including Khalid and three others neutralised in Shopian in separate encounters on Monday, surpassing the figure of 150 terrorists killed in whole of last year.