Three terrorist were killed during an encounter in Awantipora of Pulwama district and one in Anantnag, the police said on Tuesday. Those killed in Awantipora were on their way to attack a camp of the security forces, officials said. Kashmir ADGP Vijay Kumar said Mukhtar Bhat, a Lashkar-e-Toiba commander, was among those eliminated. Sources said he, along with a foreign terrorist, had been tasked with launching a fidayeen attack on a camp of the security forces. An AK-74 rifle, an AK-56 rifle and a pistol have been seized.

Quoting the ADGP, the Kashmir zone police tweeted that the slain terrorists had been involved in several crimes, including killing of a CRPF ASI and two personnel of the Railway Protection Force. The police and the Army averted a major terror incident, the police stated.

Earlier in the day, the police stated that along with police personnel, jawans of the Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles were on the job in Khandipora area. The encounter began after a joint team of the police and the security forces got an input about the presence of terrorists in the area. After security forces cordoned off the area, terrorists hiding there started firing, drawing retaliation from soldiers.

There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists have been eliminated.

On October 31, the Army neutralised a Pakistan-based terrorist in Kupwara’s Keran sector. Before that, four terrorists were eliminated in two encounters in Shopian. On October 2, a local terrorist of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was neutralised by the police in a joint operation with security forces in Baskuchan, Shopian. — Agencies

Courtesy: The Tribune India : 1st Nov , 2022