Three of the slain terrorists were allies of The Resistance Front, which was behind the recent civilian killings in the Valley
Five militants including three associates of resistance front (TRF), which was behind the recent civilian killings in the Valley, was killed in several counter-insurgency operations and damaged two multi-storey houses in south Kashmir’s Shopian on Tuesday, taking the death toll in militancy-related incidents to 12. In which five soldiers were killed in the last 24 hours.
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Three terrorists were killed in Tulran area of Shopian, where an anti-militancy operation was launched on Monday evening. The terrorists were trapped inside a residential house and they refused to surrender “despite repeated offers by the security forces”.
“Of the three terrorists killed, one terrorist has been identified as Mukhtar Shah of Ganderbal, who had gone to Shopian after killing Virendra Paswan, a street vendor from Bihar. [last week]”, said Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar.
Two multi-storey residential houses were damaged by the use of explosives by the security forces to disperse the terrorists. Three cowsheds and apple boxes were also burnt in the fire.
Hours later, two more terrorists were killed in an encounter in Shopian’s Feripora area.
“The identity of the slain terrorists was being ascertained. Operation is on in the area,” said a police spokesperson.
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operation in progress
The counter-insurgency operation entered the second day on Tuesday to nab armed terrorists who killed five soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer, in the Poonch-Rajouri belt in Jammu province’s Pir Panjal valley.
A total of 12 people, including seven terrorists and five soldiers, were killed in five separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir since Monday.
Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a spurt in anti-militancy operations, days after seven civilians were killed by terrorists in several targeted attacks in the Valley.
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Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 15 Corps, Lt Gen DP Pandey said on Tuesday that he would not like to link these operations with any incidents in Srinagar or elsewhere.
However, the GOC said that the killings of civilians are highly condemnable. “Security forces and people need to be very careful to maintain communal harmony,” he said.
He said the Army is alert and ready to thwart any infiltration attempt along the Line of Control.
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