Two Jaish terrorists killed in gunfight

SRINAGAR: A Pakistani was among two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists killed in a firefight with security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian on Wednesday, a police statement said.

As many as 11 JeM terrorists have been killed in Kashmir since the Pakistan-based group claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide bomb attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead in Pulwama, around 25 km from Shopian. The attack escalated tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad. India launched an air strike on a JeM camp in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday.

The police statement said the firefight started after the Jammu and Kashmir police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation in Shopian’s Memender area following a tipoff about the presence of terrorists. It said a combing operation was going on when the terrorists holed up in the area, fired upon the search party and triggered the exchange of fire. “In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter,” the statement said.

“Both were affiliated with the proscribed terror outfit, JeM.”

One of the slain was identified as Suhail Nazir Mir, a resident of Saidapora Payeen in Shopian. The statement said the other slain militant was a foreigner from Pakistan, who was identified based on the material recovered from the encounter. It did not name the Pakistani national.

The statement cited police records and said the two were involved in conspiring and executing several terrorist attacks, including on security establishments and civilians. “Several terror crime cases were registered against them for their terrorist activities,” it stated. It added that the security forces recovered arms and ammunition from the firefight site.

The statement called it a “clean operation with no collateral damage” and credited efforts of the police and other security forces for ensuring it.

Aman Kumar Thakur, a deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir police, and an Army soldier were killed in a firefight in Kulgam on Sunday.

Two Pakistanis, Waleed, and Numan, and local JeM terrorist, Raqib Ahmad Sheikh, were also killed in a gun battle.