Pulwama Suicide Bomber Lived 10km From Spot, Was Inspired by Taliban ‘Victory’ Over US

Adil Ahmad Dar, the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist behind the worst-ever terror attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, lived just 10 km from the spot where he rammed his car full of explosives into a CRPF convoy, killing 40 jawans.

Adil, who is also known as "Adil Ahmad Gaadi Takranewala" and "Waqas Commando of Gundibagh" joined the terror outfit last year, after dropping out from school.

Hailing from Gundibagh village in south Kashmir's insurgency hotbed of Pulwama, Adil was in class XI, when he joined Jaish and was inspired to become a suicide bomber, after the Tailban claimed victory following the US announcement of withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.

Adil grew up in a village which is only 10 km away from the site where he was trained by the Pakistan-based terror group for months, undertaking “initial ground work” and initiating “small acts of violence”.

Minutes after a ghastly suicide attack, Jaish-e-Mohammad had released a pre-recorded video of Adil. Sitting in the backdrop of the Jaish flag, brandishing several sophisticated automatic rifles, he started the video by saying, "By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven, I have spent one year as a militant with JeM and this is my last message for the people of Kashmir."

Waqas went on to boast about the attacks against India carried out by Jaish in the past - ICA18 hijacking, 2001 Parliament attack, Nagrota attack, Uri attack, and Pathankot IAF base attack.

He also sends "a message for North Kashmir", saying that people in south Kashmir have been fighting against India and that it was now time for people from north and central Kashmir as well as Jammu to join them.

"By killing few of our militant commanders, you can't weaken us," the suicide bomber said in the video. He also mentioned the recent sniper and IED attacks against security forces in Kashmir.

Sources in local police say Adil went missing on March 19, 2016 along with two other friends - Tauseef and Waseem. Tauseef's elder brother Manzoor Ahmad Dar was a militant who was killed in 2016. He also led prayers in local mosque. He has two brothers.

Thursday’s attack is one of the biggest militant attacks in Kashmir in the last two decades. The last time a suicide attack of such magnitude was carried out was in 2001 when JeM attacked the Srinagar secretariat, killing 38 people and injuring 40. This attack is also bigger than the 2016 Uri attack in which 19 army men were killed.

This is the second fidayeen attack carried out by JeM in the last 13 months. Last year in August, three JeM fidayeen militants had attacked the police headquarters in Pulwama, in which five security personnel were killed.