In the continuing offensive against militancy, eight more militants have been killed in two separate encounters at Pampore in Pulwama and Shopian in south Kashmir in the last 24 hours, taking the number of militants killed since January to 102.
Two of the militants killed had taken refuge in a mosque at Meej at Pampore.
Earlier, one militant was killed in an encounter at Bandpawa in Shopian. Later, four more militants were killed in the encounter, taking the toll to five. The encounter saw heavy exchange of fire between the militants and security forces, spreading fear in the surrounding localities. After the encounter, the bodies of the militants were retrieved for identification and for finding affiliation of the group they belonged to.
Defence spokesman in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia said four militants had been killed in the operation, which was continuing at the time this report was filed. About the encounter at Meej, Kalia said to maintain the sanctity of the mosque, two terrorists hiding inside the mosque were eliminated. He said a precise operation was carried out, ensuring no collateral damage.
A local news agency quoted IGP of Kashmir Vijya Kumar saying that there was no use of firing or IEDs against militants hiding in the mosque.
“Used tear smoke shells only. Maintained sanctity of the mosque. Both militants hiding inside the mosque neutralised,” Kumar said.
Kumar had recently said that militancy has been wiped out from south Kashmir and the police would now shift its focus to north Kashmir from next month.
Among the militants killed this year include top commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The slain commanders include Riyaz Naikoo, the chief operational commander of Hizbul; Bashir Koka of Lashkar and Abdur Rehman alias Fouji Bhai of Pakistan, who was an IED expert of Jaish.