Zakir Musa, a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander also a close aide of dead terrorist Burhan Wani. Zakir Musa had left the Hizbul in May 2017 and had claimed to lead Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a local affiliate of al-Qaeda
The districts of Kannur and Kasargod in Kerala have claimed notoriety in recent years for being the hotbed of ISIS recruitment and radicalisation activities.
Zakir Musa may have been arrived in Punjab not only to save his life from the onslaught of security forces but also to revive Sikh terrorism in Punjab backed by Pakistan's ISI.
The LeT commander Azad Ahmad Malik who has been shot down during the operation was involved in the assassination of Kashmiri Journalist Syed Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar.
Earlier, The US President Donald Trump had launched a scathing attack on Pakistan for deliberately not acting against the Islamic terrorist forces operating on its soil.