5 heavily armed terrorists killed in encounter in J-K’s Kulgam

In a major anti-terror operation, five terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were killed on Saturday in an overnight gunfight with security forces in the Akhal area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam, reports said.

The joint operation by the Army, CRPF and J&K Police broke out on Friday evening.

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Official details of the encounter are awaited.

One local terrorist killed in the encounter has been identified as Nazir Dar, resident of Pulwama. An AK-Rifle, grenade and ammunition has been recovered near his body, reports said.

The Chinar Corps of the Indian Army said that “Intermittent and Intense firefight continued through the night. Alert troops responded with calibrated fire and tightened the noose while maintaining contact”.

A police official said that after intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the Akhal forest area of Kulgam district, joint forces launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) on Friday.

“Exchange of fire between the joint forces and the hiding terrorists took place, and one terrorist was killed overnight while others were killed today. The operation is still continuing to sanitise the area and find out if more terrorists are present in the area”.

Security forces have been carrying out aggressive operations against the terrorists in the hinterland, while the Army has been on maximum alert guarding the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Three terrorists, involved in the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed, were neutralised in an encounter near Srinagar on 28 July.