New Delhi, February 15: The fidayeen attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama is suspected to be a brainchild of Jaish-e-Mohammad commander Abdul Rasheed Ghazi who has expertise in developing improvised explosive devices or IED. Abdul Rasheed Ghazi was sent to Kashmir in December last year to avenge the killings of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar's nephews.

Talha Rasheed, one of the most wanted terrorists and Maulana Masood Azhar's nephew, was gunned down by security forces in Pulwama in November 2017. Almost a year later, Azhar's other nephew Usman Haider was killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir's Tral. After Usman's killing, the JeM had released a statement vowing to avenge killings of Azhar's nephews. Pulwama Terror Attack: Toll Touches 45, Intelligence Agencies Warned of IED Strike on Security Forces.

According to intelligence inputs, the Pakistan-based terror outfit then sent Ghazi, an Afghan war veteran, to the Valley. Ghazi infiltrated into the Valley on December 9 and reached Pulwama by December-end, travelling mostly on foot and public transport, a TOI report, based on intelligence inputs, said. A video released by the JeM after the attack identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmad Dar.

In the video, Dar also said the attack in Pulwama was revenge for killing Azhar's nephews. More than 40 CRPF personnel were martyred in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district on Thursday. Jammu And Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik Admits Intelligence Failure, Says 'We Are Fault Also'.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 15, 2019 10:14 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).