Jaish man linked to attack on cops among 3 terrorists killed

SRINAGAR: Three terrorists affiliated to the Jaish-e-mohammad (JEM) outfit were killed and six security force personnel injured in an encounter in Pantha Chowk area on the outskirt of Srinagar on Friday, police said.

Inspector general of police (IG) Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar, said one of the slain terrorists, identified as Suhail Ahmad Rather, was involved in the attack on a police bus in the nearby Zewan area on December 13, in which three policemen were killed while 11 others were injured.

The IG said a cordon was laid at Pantha Chowk after receiving input about presence of terrorists in the area. “There was firing from inside in which three police personnel and two CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel were injured. The injured were hospitalised and are stable. Later, another (security) personnel was injured. Three JEM terrorists were killed in the encounter,” Kumar added.

“We are trying to identify other two as well. It appears they are foreign terrorists.”

IG Kashmir said the encounter was important because after the attack on December 13, police had promised that the “killer will be neutralised soon”. “J&K police worked like a team and developed a small input which resulted in the success of this operation,” Kumar said.

This is the third gunfight since Wednesday night when nine terrorists were killed, police said.

Six terrorists and an army jawan were killed in encounters in Anantnag and Kulgam, which broke out on Wednesday night and ended on Thursday.

The terrorists killed in the operations were identified as Sultan alias Rayees alias Mavia (a foreign national), Nisar Ahmad Khanday of Dudwangan Kapran and Altaf Ahmad Shah of Nathipora Dooru. On Thursday, IG Kumar said Altaf and Sultan killed in South Kashmir were involved in the Zewan attack on the police bus along with Suhail Rather, who was killed on Friday.