5 militants shot dead in Kulgam encounter
The security forces on Saturday gunned down five militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district. A local youth was also killed when hit by a bullet in the neck during clashes in Chowgam village.
The slain militants belonged to proscribed Lashkar- e- Tayyaba ( LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits.
Their ringleader Gulzar Ahmed Paddar alias Saif figured in the list of most wanted militants for his involvement in a number of terror acts, including the May 1, 2017, attack on a cash van of the J& K Bank at Pombai village of Kulgam in which five policemen and two bank guards were killed, a police statement said.
The other slain militants have been identified as Faisal Ahmed Rather alias Dawood, Zahid Ahmed Mir alias Hashim, Masroor Molvi alias Abu Darda and Zahoor Ahmed Lone alias Rehman Bhai — all local Kashmiris.
In what was termed by officials as ‘ yet another breakthrough’ in their fight against terror the security forces on Saturday gunned down five militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district. A local youth was also killed when hit by a bullet in the neck during the streets clashes in the area.
The slain men, the J& K police and the Army said, belonged to proscribed Lashkar- e- Tayyaba ( LeT) and Hizb- ul- Mujahideen ( HM) outfits.
Their ringleader Gulzar Ahmed Paddar alias Saif figured in the list of most wanted militants for his involvement in a number of terror acts including the May 1, 2017 attack on a cash van of the J& K bank at Pombai village of Kulgam in which five policemen and two bank guards were killed, a police statement said.
Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that the encounter took place in Chowgam village of Kulgam where the security forces including the Army and J& K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group ( SOG) had launched a cordon- andsearch operation on Friday night after learning about the presence of militants.
“During the search operation, the militants hiding in a private house opened fire at the security forces triggering the encounter which continued through Saturday and ended with the killing of all the five holed up militants,” a police official here said.
The police claimed, “Initially, the civilians were moved away from the site of the encounter to safer locations.”
“The security forces then engaged the terrorists in an encounter. the police added.
The other three slain militants have been identified as Faisal Ahmed Rather alias Dawood, Zahid Ahmed Mir alias Hashim, Masroor Molvi alias Abu Darda and Zahoor Ahmed Lone alias Rehman Bhai- all local Kashmiris. Gulzar Paddar, the police said, was a close associate of the HM commander Altaf Ahmed Dar alias Altaf Kachroo killed along with another militant in a fire fight in Anantnag district last month.
◗ The slain men, belonged to proscribed Lashkar- eTayyaba and HizbulMujahideen outfits, as per security forces’ officials