Monday 31 July 2017

Hizbul commander attends militant’s funeral, cautions people about al-Qaeda

Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo was spotted at Sunday’s funeral of an operative of the outfit who was among two militants killed in a shootout with security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Naikoo, a 30-year-old postgraduate, is said to have told the crowd at the funeral that the Kashmiri separatist movement has nothing to do with global terrorist groups, al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

Naikoo is a contemporary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, whose killing last year triggered unprecedented unrest in Kashmir and left more than 80 people dead in clashes with security forces.

The Valley’s separatists as well as Pakistan-based militant groups aiding the decades-old insurgency have rejected the al-Qaeda’s alleged attempt to hijack the movement.

The Hurriyat Conference said the “freedom movement” is indigenous.

“Terrorism and the freedom movement are poles apart,” said a joint statement of Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik last week.

The Pakistan-based Hizbul chief, Syed Salahuddin, who was declared a global terrorist this June by the US, had rejected any role of al-Qaeda in Kashmir. He also heads the United Jihad Council, an umbrella organisation of militant groups.

Source:-Hindustantimes

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