THREE TERRORISTS KILLED IN J&K ENCOUNTER
Affiliation of the militants is being ascertained: Officials
SRINAGAR: Security forces killed three terrorists in a gunfight in Shopian district on Tuesday, officials said, putting the number of casualties suffered by ultras in Kashmir this year at 94.
In June alone, security personnel have gunned down over 20 terrorists. Tuesday’s operation was the fourth such action in south Kashmir’s Shopian, considered a hotbed of militancy where 17 terrorists have died this month.
Officials said the operation took place in Turkwangan village after the police, Central Reserve Police Force and the Indian Army launched a joint operation following inputs on the presence of terrorists in the area.
During the search operation, terrorists fired on the joint search party, triggering retaliation, a police spokesperson said in a joint statement. “In the ensuing encounter, three terrorists were killed and their bodies retrieved from the site of encounter. The identification and affiliation of the slain terrorists is being ascertained,” the official said.
However, some officials requesting anonymity said those killed belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen.
Army spokesperson Rajesh Kalia said forces recovered two AK-47 rifles and one INSAS rifle from the encounter site.
Kashmir inspector general of police Vijay Kumar attributed the success of the operation to “an excellent and swift action” by the joint team. “In the current year, 94 terrorists, including top commanders, have been killed...,” he said.
Kumar said the bodies of the terrorists killed in the fresh operation were sent to Baramulla for last rites after medical and legal formalities. “In case a family claims the killed terrorists were their kin, they can come forward for identification and participate in the last rites at Baramulla,” he said.
This was the sixth major encounter in Kashmir this month. Three gun battles in Shopian resulted in the death of 14 terrorists between June 7 and 10. On June 13, two terrorists were killed in a gunfight in Kulgam. And on June 3, three militants of the Pakistan-based Jaishe-Mohammed were killed in Pulwama.