Ghaznavi of Hizbul

Top Hizbul mujahideen commander Yasin Itoo alias Gaznavi was killed in the Shopian encounter recently. He was Hizbul mujahideen's operations commander in the region. He joined Hizbul mujahideen in 1996, surrendered in 2007 and released on parole in 2014. He joined Hizbul again and was named the commander by United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahuddin four days after the killing of Burhan Wani in July 2016.

It will be interesting to mention Major Gaurav Arya in this context. He had a premonition of this. In his open letter to the deceased Burhan Wani last year, he wrote-

“Burhan Wani’s successor has a code name – Mehmood Ghaznavi. They could have named him Changez Khan and he would still have a remarkably short shelf life. A 7.62 mm full metal jacket round does not respect fancy historical names. The 7.9 g (122 gr) projectile flies at 2,350 feet per second and destroys whatever it comes into contact with. Mehmood Ghaznavi, the moment you were declared successor, you were a dead man. They have started hunting you. They will kill you. Soon.”

Hizbul has already named Mohammad Bin Qasim as its new operational chief. In case this new commander does not survive to see 2018, next in line could be Shihab ad-Din Ghori!!!