In August 2021, the Government forces released a list of ten most wanted militants in the Kashmir valley, out of them six have been killed during different operations.
The list released in August 2021 had the names of Salim Parray, Yousuf Kantroo, Abbas Sheikh, Reyaz Shetergund, Farooq Nali, Zubair Wani & Ashraf Molvi. Also, new recruits including Saqib Manzoor, Umer Mustaq Khandey & Wakeel Shah appeared in the list of the wanted militants.
Most Wanted Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Salim Parray was killed in an encounter with security forces in Harwan area on the outskirts of the City on 03 January 2022.
Salim Parray, a resident of Hajin area in Bandipora along with his associates, was allegedly responsible for the killing of BJP leader Wasim Bari and his father and brother in Bandipora. Salim was also accused of havin planted IEDs at several places and killed CRPF personnel and civilians in North Kashmir.
On August 23, 2021, two top commanders of the The Resistance Force (TRF), Mohd Abbas Sheikh and Saqib Manzoor Dar were killed in the Aloochi Bagh area of Srinagar.
Mohd Abbas Sheikh, a resident of Quimoh Kulgam and the oldest surviving commander of any militant outfit was earlier a member of Hizbul Mujahideen but defected to the TRF three years ago. The Police said that Abbas was actively recruiting youth to the militant ranks. They said he was responsible for several attacks on Government forces.
On August 21, 2021, JeM militant Wakeel Shah,was killed in a gunfight broke out between militants and security forces in the Nagbaeran forest area of Tral in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
The IGP Kashmir had said that Wakeel Shah, killer of BJP leader Rakesh Pandita killed in today’s encounter,” said IGP Kashmir.
On October 16, 2021 Lashkar commander Umar Mushtaq Khanday is among two militants killed in a gunfight with security forces at Drangbal area of Pampore in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday.
On April 21, Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Yousuf Kantroo, possibly the the longest surviving militant in Kashmir, was among the three militants killed in an encounter in Malwah area of Baramulla.
Kantroo had been a militant since 2000. He had given up the gun twice over two decades but had become more aggressive since 2017, Police said.
Out of the list of ten, only four are surviving which include Zubair Ahmed Wani and Ashraf Khan, both residents of Anantnag, Farooq Ahmed Nali, a resident of Kulgam and Riyaz Ahmed, a resident of Pulwama.