Five militants including a commander of “The Resistance Front” were killed in South Kashmir in a gun battle on Wednesday night.
The five militants were killed in two separate encounters in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Wednesday evening, police said.
The encounters took place at Pombai and Gopalpora villages of Kulgam district when joint teams of police, Army, and CRPF began two separate cordons and search operations (CASO) following an input about militant presence. “Five terrorists have been killed in the two operations,” a senior police officer said, who did not want to be named.
The first encounter broke out between militants and forces at Pombai village of the district. According to police three militants were killed in that gunfight. An hour later, another gunfight broke out when joint teams were carrying out CASO at Gopalpora, Kulgam. Police said two militants including a district commander of TRF- which police says is a shadow group of Lashkar-e-Toiba- were killed in that gunfight. “#Terrorist Commander of proscribed #terror outfit TRF Afaq Sikander killed in #encounter,” a police tweet while quoting the Inspector General of Police Kashmir said. The other slain militant killed in the Gopalpora encounter was identified as Irfan lone.
Earlier in the day, two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men were among four people injured in a grenade attack in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Police said a grenade was lobbed at around 11.30 am in Palhalan Pattan towards a road opening party of CRPF. “Two jawans of CRPF and two civilians suffered splinter injuries in the blast. The injured CRPF men were identified as ASI Ashok Kumar and Head constable Ashish Das,” a senior police officer said. The area was later cordoned off by the forces to nab the attackers. Meanwhile, J&K police on Wednesday said that it averted a major tragedy when it arrested two militant associates of Lashkar-e-Toiba and recovered two ready-to-use Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from the duo.
The LeT militant associates identified by police as Amir Bashir and Mukhtar Bhat were arrested by security forces during a joint Naka checking. “Major tragedy averted by Pulwama Police & SFs. 2 LeT terrorist associates namely Amir Bashir & Mukhtar Bhat arrested by Pulwama Police & SFs during joint naka checking. 2 ready to use IEDs were recovered from their possession. Investigation in progress,” a police tweet while quoting the IGP Kashmir said.
In the meantime, Kashmiris protest amid grieving and asking for the bodies of the recently slain civilians, calling for justice after Indian forces shot down the down naming them OGW but Kashmiris insist they were used as human shields, caught in the line of fire.
Of note, over 25 Kashmiris have been killed in search operations and fake encounters since October 1, 2021. The fresh recent killings provoked protests against the government in different areas in Kashmir. Some Kashmiris claim that the troops are killing civilians under a new policy devised by Home Minister Amit Shah during his latest visit to Kashmir.