A top Army commander, who served in the Valley until very recently, has taken a jibe at the new Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander for Jammu and Kashmir, who was appointed in the wake of the killing of Riyaz Naikoo in an operation by security forces in Pulwama last week.

Reacting to 26-year-old Saifullah Mir being made the new J&K chief of the HM,Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon, the former Commander at Srinagar-based  15 Corps, tweeted: “Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye.”

Notably, ‘Ghazi Haider’ is the symbolic name of Saifullah Mir, who was recruited by Riyaz Naikoo in 2014. While ‘Ghazi’ stands for ‘Islamic warrior,’ ‘Haider’ stands for‘brave.’

Also known as‘Doctor Saif,’ because he used to treat injured terrorists, Mir was put on a list of top terrorists in the Valley, by the Army in late 2018. Naikoo, too, wason that list.

Lt General Dhillion,meanwhile, was the Commander of the 15 Corps at the time of last year’s Pulwamasuicide attack. He has played an instrumental role in a number of successful operations by the security forces which led to killing of several terrorists. Currently serving as Director General-Defence Intelligence Agency (DG-DIA) of the Army,he was succeeded as 15 Corps Commander by Kargil War hero, Lt General YK Joshi,on February 1 this year.