Pakistan terrorist among 3 killed in Kashmir operations

Srinagar: Three militants including a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (leT) commander from Pakistan were killed and four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and policemen injured in three separate encounters in Kashmir, said officials.

The encounters were reported from Anantnag district of southern Kashmir, Srinagar district of central Kashmir and Bandipora district of northern Kashmir.

In one of the encounters in Khanyar area of downtown Srinagar, one infiltrator, Usman, associated with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, was killed during a day-long operation in the dense locality, according to officials.


The encounter in Srinagar took place after a gap of about 30 months, posing a fresh challenge to the security agencies. Prior to this, the last encounter in Srinagar was reported in April 2022, in which two militants were killed. Over the past two years, Srinagar has remained the focus of the efforts of administration and forces to ensure peace and normalcy in the region.

"This operation has been completed. Security forces have killed a terrorist, who has been identified as Usman... he was the commander of LeT... and four security personnel have been injured," inspector general of police in Kashmir, VK Birdi, told media persons.

He said Usman was involved in the murder of Inspector Masroor and that further investigation was going on. Inspector Masroor was shot at Eidgah playground in downtown Srinagar - around 3 km from the encounter spot - on October 29, 2023, and he succumbed to injuries on December 8, 2023.

In another encounter, in the Halkan Gali area of Anantnag district, two infiltrators were killed.

In Bandipora, unidentified gunmen opened a few rounds of fire at an army camp on Friday evening. However, there were no injuries and the attackers fled towards the forest area, according to officials. The army continued the operation on Saturday but after initial rounds of firing no major exchange of fire was reported from there.

Politics Over Encounters
The surge in violence comes ahead of the first assembly session of Omar Abdullah-led UT government, starting from November 4.

National Conference president and former chief minister of J&K Farooq Abdullah said that the militants caught at the encounter spot should not be killed but arrested to expose the conspiracy and agencies behind their activities. "I am sceptical about the timing of these incidents," Abdullah said.