Three local Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were killed in an overnight encounter in Drabgam area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Sunday. One among the slain trio was involved in the targeted killing of police constable Riyaz Naikoo on May 13, and an attack on labourers at a brick kiln in Budgam on June 2, in which one migrant labourer was killed and two more injured, IGP (Kashmir Range) Vijay Kumar said. So far, 99 terrorists have been gunned down in anti-terror operations in J&K this year, Kumar said.
“The encounter started on Saturday evening after a joint team of the Army, CRPF and J&K Police launched a cordon-and search operation in Drabgam based on intelligence inputs received by SSP Pulwama about the presence of three local terrorists in the area,” the IGP said, adding: “Two AK-47 rifles and a pistol were recovered from the site of the firefight. ”
Two Pakistanis among 4 terrorists killed
Two Pakistanis were among four terrorists killed in two separate encounters while security forces also foiled a plot to carry out a series of explosions in the Valley by sending out drones to drop explosive devices.
The Pakistanis belonging to Lashkar-e Taiba were identified as Tufail and Hanzula from Lahore. Another terrorist killed by security forces was identified as Nadeem Ahmad Rather alias Raja Nadeem, a resident of Kulgam who was pursuing a Bachelor of Veterinary Sciences course before vanishing to join Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. The fourth slain terrorist was suspected to be Ishtiyaq but his identity was yet to be confirmed.
The operation which followed the high-level review meeting held by Union home minister on Friday coincided with the BSF downing drones with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) as their payload. The payload downed by BSF troopers at Dayaran area of Kanachak in Akhnoor sector contained three magnetic IEDs packed inside children tiffin boxes and timed to go off after three and eight hours. The drone, however, could not be brought down. BSF spotted and fired at another drone in the Akhnoor sector.
The two Pakistani LeT terrorists were killed in an ongoing anti-militancy operation in Chaktaras-Kadi area of North Kashmir's Kupwara district on Tuesday morning, officials said. The encounter in which terrorist Nadem was eliminated took place at Badimarg village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
