Srinagar, August 4, 2025 : Security agencies have confirmed that the three terrorists killed in the July 28 Dachigam encounter were Pakistani nationals and senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives, officials said Monday. The militants were behind the April 22 terror attack at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.
The confirmation is based on a range of evidence including Pakistani government-issued documents, biometric data from NADRA (Pakistan’s national database), digital footprints, and forensic analysis. “This is the first time we have government-issued Pakistani documents directly linking such attackers to Pakistan,” a senior official said.
The slain terrorists were identified as:
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Suleman Shah alias Faizal Jatt – A++ category terrorist and mastermind;
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Abu Hamza alias Afghan – A-grade commander and second shooter;
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Yasir alias Jibran – A-grade commander and third attacker.
Security forces recovered laminated voter slips issued by Pakistan’s Election Commission from Shah and Hamza, linked to constituencies in Lahore (NA-125) and Gujranwala (NA-79). A damaged sat-phone yielded a micro-SD card containing NADRA biometric records of all three, confirming their citizenship and family links to areas in Changa Manga (Kasur) and Koiyan (near Rawalakot, PoK).
Technical data from a Huawei satellite phone, which pinged the Inmarsat-4 F1 satellite nightly from April 22 to July 25, helped narrow their location to the Harwan forest zone. GPS waypoints from Shah’s Garmin device matched the attack site’s coordinates and eyewitness reports.
Forensic teams matched shell casings from Baisaran to the AK-103 rifles recovered post-encounter. DNA analysis of blood traces found on-site matched the bodies of the slain terrorists.
The trio had crossed the LoC via Gurez in May 2022. Two local supporters, Parvaiz and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, who have been arrested, revealed that they sheltered the terrorists in a seasonal hut near Baisaran on April 21, a day before the attack.
Additionally, Pakistan-made food wrappers and other personal items found with the militants trace back to a May 2024 consignment shipped to Muzaffarabad, PoK.
Command and control links also point toward Pakistan-based handlers. Voice samples from the sat-phone matched LeT’s south-Kashmir operations chief Sajid Saifullah Jatt of Changa Manga. Footage shows LeT’s Rawalakot chief Rizwan Anees leading funeral prayers in absentia for the slain attackers on July 29, now included in the official dossier.
Earlier police sketches released on April 24 were based on unrelated photographs and have since been withdrawn.
