A third militant was killed in an encounter that resumed after a lull of 24 hours at Redwani in Kulgam district. The operation against the militants began on the intervening night of May 6 and 7. Earlier, two militants, including a top Lashkar commander, were killed after the encounter started in the area.
“A Joint Operation, that commenced on the intervening night of 06-07 May in the general area Redwani Payeen, Kulgam, has been concluded after a relentless vigil of approximately 40 hours. 03xTerrorists have been eliminated along with the recovery of war-like stores, inflicting yet another hit on the terror ecosystem,” the Army said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Security forces killed the third militant, who was holed up at the site of the encounter on Wednesday evening. The militant was neutralised after he opened fire at the security forces who were conducting a search operation in the area, after killing two militants, including a top Lashkar commander, Basit Dar, carrying a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head. These militants were also gunned down by the Army at the same spot on Wednesday. Security forces have retrieved the bodies of two militants from the encounter site.
The killing of the three militants comes in the wake of an attack on an Indian Air Force convoy in Poonch on May 5 in which IAF personnel got injured. One of the injured, Corporal Vikky Pahade, later succumbed to the injuries. The attack took place in the Shaistar area of Poonch.
Militants, according to officials, had taken positions on heights overlooking the road and fired indiscriminately on two IAF vehicles. The security forces quickly retaliated after which the militants fled from the spot. The security forces have detained some people for information about the militants and also released their sketches, and announced an award for information on them.
Poonch and Rajouri in the last two years have witnessed several ambushes by militants on security forces in which more than 20 security force personnel, mostly from the Army, have lost their lives.
