KARACHI: In a fresh blunder, Indian media reported that Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, late Lal Masjid cleric, was killed on Monday by Indian army, ARY News reported.

Indian media has been blaming Pakistan for the February 14 Pulwama attack but one of India’s leading channels went a step ahead and made a blunder by claiming that Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, the cleric killed during the 2007 Lal Masjid operation, was behind the attack.

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Today, Times of India, a leading Indian news website, claimed that not only the late cleric was behind the attack but was killed (perhaps again) by Indian army.

Read More: Indian media holds late Abdul Rasheed Ghazi ‘responsible’ for Pulwama attack

Ghazi, however, was killed in 2007 during the Lal Masjid operation launched by the then president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

The Pulwama attack

On 14 February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora in the Pulwama district of India-Ocuupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The attack resulted in the death of more than 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and the attacker. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. A local youth named Adil Ahmed Dar was identified as the attacker.

Indian media and politicians have since been blaming Pakistan for the attack without any evidence.

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comments</s>Troops in Indian-administered Kashmir are searching for militants after last week's suicide attack in Pulwama district in which 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed.

The attack was the deadliest in Kashmir in decades.

Four Indian soldiers were killed in a gun battle during the follow-up search.</s>Four Indian soldiers died in a fierce battle with Kashmir militants on Monday just days after a suicide bomber killed at least 41 paramilitaries in the troubled territory, officials said.

The confrontation piled more pressure on the Indian government, which has blamed Pakistan for Thursday’s suicide attack on a paramilitary convoy that sparked widespread calls for action against the country’s neighbour and nuclear arch-rival.

Shooting continued for hours after military and police sources reported that four soldiers, two militants and a civilian were killed in Pulwama district, south of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Police said that security forces killed two suspected organisers of the attack, who were both Pakistani nationals and members of JeM.

With tension mounting, Pakistan withdrew its envoy to India for consultations, a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Twitter on Monday.

An army major was among the dead, according to the Indian army. Police said another soldier and a civilian were critically wounded.

Hundreds of soldiers raided villages and fired warning shots at a suspected militant hideout, unleashing the firefight in the village of Pinglan.</s>Indian soldiers patrol outside Pinglin after today’s gun battle, in which four of their comrades died FAROOQ KHAN/EPA

A gun battle with militants in Kashmir left four Indian soldiers dead today as they hunted terrorists behind a suicide bombing last week.

Two militants and a civilian were also killed in the clash as India responded to Thursday’s attack on a military convoy ferrying soldiers to the state capital, Srinagar, in which 41 paramilitaries were killed. It was the deadliest attack in the 30-year insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir and the worst strike on Indian soil for a decade.

Indian security forces claimed that the two militants killed in the battle, in the district of Pinglin, were key members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for last week’s attack. One was said to be a local bomb-maker, the other a close aide to…</s>Hundreds of Indian-Americans gathered in various US cities to mourn the killing of over 40 CRPF soldiers in one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on February 14 in a suicide attack claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group.

The attack has heightened bilateral tensions with both New Delhi and Islamabad calling back their envoys.

Expressing their outrage, hundreds of Indian-Americans gathered at the 9/11 memorial on the outskirts of Chicago on Sunday and urged that all nations need to stand together with India and the US in their fight against those carrying out such "heinous crimes".

In a joint resolution read out on the occasion, the participants held peaceful candle light protest in Naperville, Illinois and called upon Pakistan to "end immediately" support to all terrorist groups operating from its soil.

"We mourn the loss of 40 Indian security personnel at the hands of terrorists. This was an act of terror, an act of pure evil. We must be firm in the face of evil and terror," said Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi in his address.

"The threat of terrorism is not stronger than either the will of the Indian people, the American people or the people of the world. Our will is stronger. We will deal firmly with terrorism. We will deal firmly with sponsors of terrorism. In this year of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we will continue to be people of nonviolence, peace and we will continue to open our arms to those who seek to engage with us peacefully," he said.

"We will defend ourselves, but we will not change our own character," Mr Krishnamoorthi said.

Similar events were held in Washington DC, New York, New Jersey, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Detroit, Tampa, Houston, and Phoenix.

Participants of the candle light protest urged the Indian government "to take steps to severely punish" the JeM and other terrorist organisations.

Expressing solidarity with people of India and with the government, the diaspora demanded that the UN designate JeM chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist.

"Today the Indian community is grieving for those who have been killed and wounded in this inhuman attack," said Krishna Bansal, one of the organisers.

The Naperville event was organised by the Indian Community Outreach Organization.

As many as four events have been organised in and around Chicago area, which has one of the largest concentrations of Indian-Americans in the US.

Later this week, the Indian-American community has organised a peaceful protest outside Pakistani and Chinese communities in Chicago. Similar events were reported from other cities of the country.

Indian students in the University of Maryland in a statement said that they "strongly condemn this dastardly attack and mourn the loss of life and extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims'' families and people of India".

As a mark of solidarity and respect to the soldiers killed in the dastardly attack, various student organisations in the university have come together to organise a silent candle light vigil on February 21.

Several temples in the Greater Washington Area held prayer meetings for the victims of the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Scores of Indian-Americans gathered in front of the US Capitol on Sunday morning in support of India and to express their outrage at the continuing support to terrorist groups by Pakistan.

"We gathered on the lawns of Capitol Hill to offer our Shraddhanjali to martyred Heroes of Pulwama Terrorist Attack," said Adapa Prasad from the Overseas Friends of BJP-USA.

"The Indian Diaspora has profusely thanked President Trump's and his administration's unequivocal stand against terrorism which is emanating from Pakistan. The community also expressed gratitude and thanked the National Security Advisor John Bolton's statement on Indian's right to self-defense and help India in these difficult times," said Krishna Reddy of the Overseas Friends of BJP-USA.

A prayer meeting in memory of the killed soldiers is being planned in Edison, New Jersey.</s>Srinagar: Four Army personnel, including a major were martyred and two Jaish terrorists were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, three days after a suicide bomber from the group drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in the area, defence officials said.

A civilian was also killed in the exchange of fire in Pinglan area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, they said.

“The terrorists are believed to be linked to the February 14 car bombing. The exact identities of the two terrorists killed are being ascertained,” a defence spokesperson said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation during the night after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

Militants fired at forces as the searches got under way, triggering a gun battle, officials said.

The Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the February 14 terror attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead and five critically wounded.(PTI)</s>SRINAGAR (REUTERS) - Four Indian soldiers and a civilian were killed in a gunbattle in disputed Kashmir on Monday (Feb 18), a police official said, as India launched a hunt for suspected members of an Islamist militant group that killed 44 Indian paramilitary police last week.

A police spokesman in the northern state of Jammu & Kashmir said Indian troops had cordoned off Pinglan village in Kashmir's Pulwama district, where a suicide bomber rammed into a convoy of paramilitary police on Thursday (Feb 14).

Another state police official, who declined to be identified because the operation is not yet over, said information had been received about the presence of up to three militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group, including foreigners, inside a house in the village.

The second police official said four soldiers and a civilian were killed in the gunbattle.

"There was an exchange of fire early this morning that wounded the army men and the owner of the house. They died later," said official said.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Pulwama and police have asked people to stay indoors.

Mr Mohammad Yunis, a journalist in Pulwama, said troops were searching the village and civilians trapped in adjacent houses were being evacuated.

Pakistan has denied any links to the attack on the convoy of reserve police last week.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility, is claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan but is ruled in part by both south Asian countries.

Indian forces have detained about 23 men suspected of links to Jaish, which has claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack on Indian security forces in decades.</s>Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Four Indian soldiers and two suspected terrorists, including a commander of the group behind last week's suicide bomb attack in Kashmir, have been killed during a night-long firefight.

The two terrorists were killed during a joint police and Indian army cordon and search operation of the Pulwama district that was conducted following military having received information that militants were holed up in the area, India Today reported.

The fighting broke out after the suspected terrorists opened fire on the Indian military search party, the Hindustan Times reported.

Four Indian security forces and two civilians were also killed during the night-long firefight.

The two civilians were living in the house the terrorists were holed up in, the Times of India reported.

"We condole the death of the four soldiers who lost their lives earlier today in a terrorist encounter," the Indian National Congress said in a tweet about the attack.

One of the terrorists is believed to be an alleged commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group based in Pakistan that claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack when a truck loaded with explosives drove into a convoy transporting Indian Central Reserve Police Force soldiers, killing At least 44 of them.

Following the attack, India turned its ire to its neighboring country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Pakistan was on a "path to its own destruction" for its alleged involvement.

India has said it will take diplomatic steps to isolate Pakistan from the international community and it's planning to urge the Financial Action Task Force, an international terror financing watchdog, to label the country as non-cooperative in the fight against terrorist financing, meaning that Pakistan would be downgraded in the eyes of lenders, the Economic Times reported.

However, Pakistan has rejected these accusations.

Mohammad Faisal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeting Sunday that "These knee-jerk and pre-conceived accusation were rejected also because they were within a short time after the attack and without any investigations."</s>At least four soldiers died Monday in a fierce gunfight with rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir just four days after a suicide bomber killed 41 paramilitaries in the troubled territory, officials said.

One soldier and one civilian were also critically wounded in the shootout as troops launched a search operation in Pulwama district where the suicide bomber struck on Thursday.

"Four soldiers were killed during the shootout and another one is injured," a senior police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official said the soldiers fired warning shots and the militants fired back, unleashing the firefight in the district 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar.

The official added that the rebels were believed to have escaped.

Government forces have launched a massive hunt for militants in parts of the disputed region since Thursday's bombing that India has blamed on Pakistan.

An explosives-packed van rammed a convoy transporting 2,500 security forces in the deadliest attack in Kashmir in 30 years.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries, which have fought two wars over the territory, claim all of Kashmir.

Tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians, have died in Kashmir since an armed rebellion broke out in 1989.</s>NEW DELHI — Militants in Kashmir struck again on Monday, killing an Indian Army major and at least three other soldiers just days after orchestrating a devastating bombing that killed dozens of Indian security forces.

Under the cover of darkness, a group of militants opened fire on an approaching army contingent, killing the major and three soldiers and critically wounding at least one other soldier in the Pulwama District of the Kashmir Valley, Indian security officials said.

Indian officials attributed the latest attack to Jaish-e-Mohammed, the violent separatist group that claimed responsibility for the bomb blast last week that was one of the deadliest attacks in Kashmir in decades.

Fears are now rising that Kashmir, a majority Muslim region that is mostly controlled by India, a predominantly Hindu nation, could be sliding into an especially deadly phase again.
Two reported Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, one civilian and four Indian soldiers are killed in a skirmish in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir as police search for suspects in Thursday's suicide attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary police.