Four terrorists belonging to banned Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit were killed in an encounter in Hanjin village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday. With this, the security forces have killed 251 terrorists during 2018, the highest in a decade.
At least a dozen villagers were injured when they clashed with security forces while attempting to move towards the encounter site. Three of the slain terrorists were local residents while another is believed to be a Pakistani national.
Police said the operation was launched on the basis of tip-off about the presence of terrorists.
“As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the terrorists. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight,” a police spokesman said. “In the ensuing encounter, four terrorists were neutralised and the bodies were recovered from the site of encounter.”
The killings occurred a day after one Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) terrorist Ishfaq Yousuf was killed in a brief encounter with security forces in Banderpora village of Awantipora in south Kashmir. Last Saturday, six terrorists belonging to Ansar Gazwatul Hind outfit led by Zakir Musa were killed in a similar encounter in Tral sub-district of south Kashmir.
Police said incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were recovered from the site of the encounter.
The slain terrorists have been identified as Muzamil Nabi Dar, Muzamil Nazir Bhat and Waseem Akram Wani-all local cadre. A non-local cadre identified as Haris was also among the slain terrorists. While bodies of the local terrorists were handed over to their relatives for funeral, the foreign terrorists are usually taken to Baramulla district for silent burial in a specified graveyard.
The authorities advise the local residents against venturing into the encounter areas. “Citizens are requested not to venture inside the encounter zone since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitised and cleared of all the explosives materials if any,” police said.
However, a group of people attempted to stage protests around the encounter site. The security forces used force to disperse them. At least a dozen protesters have been wounded in the clashes.
The normal life came to a grinding halt in the area after the gun-battle. A group of soldiers were seen chanting slogans while withdrawing from the village.
The latest killings at the culmination of the year 2018 have taken the total death toll of terrorists to 251. This is the highest number of terrorist killings in Kashmir since 2008. As many as 89 security personnel, including several officers, have been killed in the unabated violence during this period.
Most of the fatal casualties occurred in south Kashmir region, which remains the epicentre of terrorism in the region.
During the year, around 60 civilians were killed near the encounter sites while 40 civilians were killed by suspected terrorists.