3 LeT terrorists killed in Sopore

SRINAGAR: Two Pakistani nationals were among the three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Sunday, officials said.

“Two of the killed terrorist were foreigners and have been identified as Abu Rafia, alias Usman, and Saifullah, both residentsof Pakistan. Abu Rafia, alias Usman, was active in the Valley since year 2016,” a police spokesperson said. The third terrorist is yet to be identified, they added.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, confirmed that Usman was involved in an attack on security forces at Sopore, in which one CRPF jawan and a civilian were killed. “Pakistani LeT terrorist Usman killed in encounter. He was involved in recent terror attack at Sopore in which one CRPF jawan was martyred and a civilian was also killed. Big success for Police & SFs,” he said.

A joint party of police, army and CRPF launched a search operation at Rebban area of Sopore around midnight following a tip-off, a police official said.

“A cordon was laid and contact established (with militants) which led to a gunfight,” an army spokesman said. The gunfight continued throughout the day, killing three terrorists, the official added. “Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition recovered. Searches were going,” Kashmir Police Zone tweeted later in the day. Meanwhile, suspected militants hurled two grenades on a team of security personnel in Pulwama on Sunday, but they didn’t explode, an army spokesperson said.