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Top militant among five terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir
Srinagar: Five Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, including commander Farooq Ahmad Bhat, were killed in Kulgam. Two soldiers injured; operation ongoing.
Srinagar: Five Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists — including one of the outfit’s oldest commanders — were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of south Kashmir in the early hours of Thursday, officers aware of the matter said, adding that two Indian soldiers also sustained injuries during the operation.
Security officers said Farooq Ahmad Bhat alias Nali, the outfit’s operational chief and a senior commander, was an A++ category militant. His killing will likely weaken the outfit, which was trying to revive its cadres in the south Kashmir region, they added. The four other terrorists were identified as Adil Hussain, 27, of Kandipora Kulgam, Mushtaq Ahmad Etoo, 37, of Kulgam, Mohammad Irfan, 28, and Javid Ahmad Bhat, 22, of Yaripora. A++ category militants carry a cash reward of over ₹10 lakh.
Deputy inspector general of police (south Kashmir), Javid Iqbal, said that the operation started in the Kader village area on Wednesday night after forces received specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area.
“On 19 Dec 24, based on specific intelligence input regarding presence of terrorists, a Joint Operation launched by IndianArmy & @JmuKmrPolice at Kader, Kulgam. Suspicious activity was observed by vigilant troops and on being challenged, terrorists opened indiscriminate and heavy volume of fire. Own troops effectively retaliated. Five terrorists have been neutralised by the security forces in the ongoing Operation. During the firefight two soldiers have suffered injuries and have been evacuated for medical care. Operation is in progress,” the Army 15 Corps posted on X.
Other officers aware of the details of the encounter added that the terrorists were trapped within the orchards due to a tight cordon. “It was a clean operation. Five terrorists were killed and searches are still going on in the area. Both the injured jawans are stable and shifted to 92 Base hospital, Srinagar,” Iqbal said.
Officers did not specify the nature of injuries sustained by the soldiers but said they were both stable.
Security forces recovered five AK47 rifles, 20 magazines, and two hand grenades, along with other arms and ammunition from the site.
‘Bhat, a notorious commander’
According to Brigadier Anirudh Chauhan, Commander 2 sector Rashtriya Rifles, Bhat, who was in his late 30s and originally from Yaripora Kulgam, was one of the longest-surviving terrorists in Kashmir. He joined Hizbul Mujahideen in 2015 and had escaped several cordons in the past decade.
People aware of the matter said search operations were continuing in the area even as police requested locals not to go close to the encounter site for safety reasons.
Bhat was on the radar of the police and the army for the last two months before the forces received credible information about him on Wednesday night, officials said. “He was the most notorious militant commander and there were 37 cases registered against him in various police stations,” Iqbal said, adding that four others who were killed were also “old” militants.
Chauhan said that forces were on the group’s trail for two months. It was largely active on the Kulgam-Shopian border. “The killing is a big setback to Hizbul Mujahideen,” he said. Bhat was nominated as the commander of Hizb after the arrest of Naveed Babu in 2020. He was operating in the Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir and was acting as operational chief for the last three years. In 2021, his name, along with nine other commanders, was released by police as part of a target list. Most of those who were on the list had been wiped out except Bhat who was evading law enforcement agencies.
In June 2023, the special investigative unit (SIU) of the Kulgam Police also conducted a search at his house at Yaripora in a case related to the killing of five non-local labourers in Kulgam in 2019.
This year in Kashmir, nine security personnel and 15 civilians have died in terror attacks. Security forces have killed 55 terrorists in the Valley. In the same period, 15 security personnel and 11 civilians have died in separate attacks in Jammu. Security forces have gunned down 10 terrorists in the region.
