Houses of 2 terrorists behind Pahalgam attack destroyed in blast as Army continues hunt

New Delhi: When India vowed to retaliate against the perpetrators behind the terror attack in Pahalgam, houses of two terrorists involved in the incident were destroyed in a blast in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama and Bijbehara on Thursday night. NDTV reported that the houses belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists Adil Hussain Thoker and Asif Sheikh. The exact cause of the blast is yet to be ascertained. At the same time, it is learnt that explosives were kept inside the houses. 

The officials said security forces were conducting searches inside the houses of two LeT terrorists Adil Hussain Thokar and Asif Sheikh when the explosives already kept inside the houses went off.

The explosives caused destruction of the houses, they added.

Thokar, a resident of south Kashmir's Anantnag district, is one of the key accused in Tuesday's Pahalgam massacre, while Sheikh, resident of Tral in Pulwama district, is suspected to be involved in the conspiracy of the attack.

Meanwhile, an encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora on Friday morning. According to reports, security forces launched a search operation in the Kulnar Ajas area of the district after intelligence reported on the possible presence of the terrorists. The gunfight erupted following this search operation. 

A total of 26 people, including a Nepal citizen, were killed in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22.