Two local terrorists of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) outfit were killed in a night-long gunfight in a village in north Kashmir’s Sopore quarter on Thursday, official sources said. After the gunfight, security personnel battled with irate protesters who attempted to march towards the encounter site.
Police said that on the basis of credible input about the presence of terrorists in Brath Kalan area of Sopore, a search operation was launched by police, army, and CRPF jointly in the area on Wednesday evening.
“As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the hiding terrorists. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight,” a police spokesman said.
“In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were neutralised and the bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter,” the spokesman said.
The slain terrorists have been identified as Owais Ahmad Bhat alias Abu Bakar and Tahir Ahmad Dar alias Abu Abdullah. Both were affiliated with terror outfit LeT.
“Both the terrorists were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of crimes including the attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” the spokesman said.
“Huge quantity of arms and ammunition including rifles were recovered from the site of encounter. All these materials have been taken in the case records for further investigation and probe their complicity in other terror cases,” the spokesman said.
“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,” said police.
The advisory was reiterated after clashes erupted in the area following the killing of two terrorists. Locals said soon after the gunfight ended youth took to streets and pelted stones on the security forces. The retaliatory action from the security personnel triggered clashes.
The terrorists are under intense pressure from the security forces after the temperatures began plummeting in the region. The terrorists generally descend to the populated areas during harsh winter months and are prone to getting exposed.
Meanwhile, security forces launched cordon and search operation in Mirdanter village of south Kashmir's Anantnag district late on Thursday evening.