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Security forces gun down three terrorists in Srinagar
Security forces shot dead three terrorists in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar after they refused to surrender on Sunday, officials said. This was the
Security forces shot dead three terrorists in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar after they refused to surrender on Sunday, officials said. This was the second such operation in the city in just over a month.
Vijay Kumar, Kashmir inspector general of police, said one of the militants — a local resident — was involved in the killing of two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel near the city’s Pandach Chowk during Ramzan May 20.
He was identified as Shakoor Farooq Langoo of Bharthana near Srinagar. The second militant, Shahid Ahmad Bhat, was a resident of Semthan Bijbehara in South Kashmir, while the third person was yet to be identified.
They were affiliated to the Hizbul Mujahideen, a banned local group, and the Kashmir unit of the Islamic State, according to the police, who said the terrorists were working jointly.
Security personnel launched the operation after receiving intelligence inputs about their presence in a house in the densely populated Zadibal in downtown Srinagar late on Saturday night. Subsequently, the police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a cordon-and-search operation in the area’s Zoonimar.
“Through our sources, we go to know of their identity and called their parents who appealed to them to surrender. But they didn’t relent...after that, an operation was launched to neutralize them,” he said.
The house owner and people from nearby houses were evacuated successfully, and the terrorists cornered during the operation.
“Your mother is suffering from a heart ailment. Come out and surrender. They will help you,” the uncle of one of the terrorists said. The mother of one of them, with tears in her eyes, urged her son to lay down his arms, according to news agency PTI.
A police spokesperson said security forces showed patience and restraint, and ensured a “clean operation with no collateral damage in a highly congested and densely populated area of Srinagar”.
Mobile internet services were suspended in the city view of the operation.
The operation came less than 24 hours of security forces killing a terrorist, a Pakistani national, at Likhdipora village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The police spokesperson said he was identified as Tayab Waleed, alias Imran Bhai, alias Gazi Baba, who was affiliated to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed.
According to police records, he was the operational commander of the JeM and an expert in making improvised explosive devices (IEDS), besides being a sharp shooter. One AK rifle, one M-4 Carbine, and a pistol, among others, were recovered from the encounter.
Security personnel have stepped up the offensive in the Kashmir Valley, killing over 100 terrorists in operations since the beginning of the year. Several of these encounters have taken place in south Kashmir, considered the hotbed of militancy. Among the major successes of security forces this year was the killing of Riyaz Naikoo, a top commander of the Hizbul, in an operation in Beighpora last month. On May 19, two top Hizbul terrorists were killed in the Safakdal area in Srinagar.
