Six terrorists, including three from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were killed in three separate encounters with security forces in Kulgam, Pulwama and Rajouri on Thursday.
Two soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed in a fierce gun battle in Rajouri, while they were foiling a major infiltration bid along the Line of Control, officials said.
The terrorists opened fire and lobbed hand grenades at the search-and-destroy patrol seeking proactive engagement with the terrorists in Dadal forest area, leading to a gunbattle in which two terrorists from Pakistan were killed, the spokesman said.
In the operation, naib subedar Sreejith M and sepoy Maruprolu Jaswanth Reddy received fatal injuries.
4 militants killed in Pulwama, Kulgam
Four militants, including three from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were killed in two separate encounters with security forces in South Kashmir’s Pulwama and Kulgam districts.
Based on specific input about the presence of terrorists in the Puchal area of Pulwama, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by police, CRPF and the Army on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, a police spokesperson said.
“During the search operation as the presence of terrorists was ascertained they were given repeated opportunities to surrender, however, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which retaliated leading to an encounter,” he said. In the ensuing encounter, two militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter, the spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}“During the search operation as the presence of terrorists was ascertained they were given repeated opportunities to surrender, however, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which retaliated leading to an encounter,” he said. In the ensuing encounter, two militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter, the spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}They have been identified as Kifayat Ramzan Sofi, affiliated with the LeT, and Inayat Ahmad Dar, affiliated with Al-Badr outfit. An AK-47 pistol and a pistol was recovered from their possession. The militants killed in Kulgam were planning to carry out attack on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.
“During naka checking, when a suspicious vehicle was signalled to stop by the naka party, two terrorists who were boarding the vehicle came out from the vehicle and started firing indiscriminately upon the joint naka party. However, the alert party retaliated the fire effectively, leading to the elimination of two terrorists on the spot,” the spokesperson said.
The slain militants were identified as Nasir Ahmad Pandith and Shahbaz Ahmad Shah, both affiliated with the LeT.
“As per police records, all the killed terrorists were part of groups involved in various terror crimes regarding which several terror crime cases stand registered against them. Arms, ammunition and other incriminating materials were recovered from both the encounter sites,” he said.
Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar has congratulated the police and security forces for conducting successful operations in a professional manner without any collateral damage.
On Wednesday, a Hizbul Mujahideen(HM) militant commander, Mehrajuddin Halwai , was killed hours after his detention by security forces in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Police said that he was killed in an encounter after he was taken to locate his hidden weapon from a hideout where he allegedly picked up his rifle and started firing on forces personnel.
Since January, around 68 militants have been killed in Kashmir in different operations with the forces including some top commanders of different militant groups.