Three Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) terrorists, including a top commander who masterminded the 2017 attack on a CRPF camp, were shot down on Thursday in a gunfight with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said.
A soldier and a civilian also their lives in the encounter. Two other soldiers and were also injured.
“The slain terrorists have been identified as two locals, Naseer Pandit and Umar Mir and a Pakistani Khalid Bhai. Khalid was a top JeM commander and he had masterminded the 2017 attack on the CRPF camp in Lethpora in which five troopers were killed,” police sources said.
The civilian victim was identified as Rayees Ahmad Dar, son of the owner of a house where the militants were hiding. While Dar’s brother Muhammad Younis, sustained a gunshot injury.
Based on a tip-off, security forces including Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the state police started a cordon and search operation in Dalipora village.
The terrorists holed up in a house in the Dalipora area fired at the security forces which triggered the gunfight.
Meanwhile, there were also reports of clashes between stone pelting protesters and the security forces near the gunfight site despite authorities announcing curfew-like restrictions in the area.
As a precautionary measure, authorities have suspended mobile Internet services in Pulwama.
Mobile internet speed has also been brought down in Srinagar city to prevent uploading of inflammatory pictures and posts.
Meanwhile, a 23-year-old youth, injured in clashes with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district earlier this week, died at a hospital early on Thursday.