2 LET militants killed in Sopore encounter
‘Most-wanted terrorist’ Fayaz Ahmad War among those eliminated; Kashmir IGP terms it ‘big success’
SRINAGAR: Two Lashkar-etaiba (LET) militants, including a top commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore village, police said on Friday. This is the second such encounter in last four days.
Security forces had on Thursday evening launched a search and cordon operation in Warpora village in Sopore that turned into a gunfight, which was going on till the filing of this report.
The police said they had received information about presence of at least two militants in the area. “Two militants have been killed and the operation is still going on,” Kashmir inspector general of police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said.
One of the militants, he said, has been identified as Fayaz Ahmad War, who was involved in killings of security forces personnel and civilians.
The other militant has been identified as Shaheen Ahmad Mir alias Shaheen Molvi. IGP Kumar termed War’s killing a big success. “He (War) was the last perpetrator of violence in north Kashmir,” he said, while appealing all youths who have joined militancy to return to mainstream.
‘War joined terror outfits in 2008’
As per the police, War had a long history of involvement in terror activities. He was associated with terror outfits since 2008.
“Although he had surrendered earlier with arms and ammunition, yet after his release he again joined a proscribed terror outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen. He was detained under the Public Safety Act. However after his release, in March 2020, he again joined terrorist ranks of the Lashkar-etaiba,” a police spokesperson said, adding that he was instrumental in planning and executing terror attacks on security establishments and killing civilians. He figured on the list of “most-wanted” terrorists in north Kashmir, the police said.
Two AK-47 rifles and four magazines have been recovered from the site of encounter.
Another top LET commander Ishfaq Ahmad Dar alias Abu Akram, who had deserted the ranks of Jammu and Kashmir
Police about four years ago, was among the two militants killed in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday.
The police had said that he was involved in killing of four cops in 2018 in south Kashmir’s Zanipora village.
Last Friday, two militants believed to be involved in the killings of policemen and civilians in Srinagar were neutralised by security forces at Alamdar Colony in Danmar area of Srinagar.
So far, 83 militants have been eliminated in Kashmir since January this year, including some top commanders belonging to different militant groups.