Four militants were killed in twin operations in Kupwara and Kulgam in Kashmir on Saturday.
Police said two militants — identified as Haris Sharief from Srinagar, a ‘C’ category militant affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Zakir Padder from Kulgam, a ‘C’ category militant affiliated to the Jaish-e-Muhammad — were killed in an operation in Kulgam’s D.H. Pora area in south Kashmir. “A combing operation is on in the area,” the police said.
In north Kashmir, a group of hiding militants was trapped in Kupwara’s Lolab area.
The police said a joint operation along with Army’s 28 Rashtriya Rifles was launched on the disclosure of arrested terrorist, Showket Ahmed Sheikh from Lolab, Kupwara.
“During the search of hideouts, hiding terrorists fired upon joint search parties and our team also retaliated, in which one terrorist got killed. The arrested terrorist also got trapped,” the police said.
The police said a total of two militants were killed in the ongoing operation.
“One slain terrorist has been identified as Pakistani and was linked to the LeT. Two to three more terrorists along with arrested terrorist are trapped in the ongoing encounter,” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said.
Security forces have stepped up anti-militancy operations in Kashmir ahead of the Amarnath yatra, which will commence on June 30 after a gap of three years.
Mr. Kumar said the counter-militancy operations would continue simultaneously in all the three regions, especially against foreign militants.
"By targeting innocent civilians, including women and kids, unarmed policemen and outside labourers, terrorists can’t deter our efforts to bring peace in the Valley," the IG said.
