Security forces on Tuesday killed three newly infiltrated Pakistani Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists in an operation in Magam area of Handwara in Kupwara district.
Hours later, they launched another operation in Zurhama village of the border district to hunt down group of terrorists hiding in the area. A soldier was killed and two others were injured in the encounter. Colonel Rajesh Kalia, defence spokesman at Srinagar, said, "Operation continues."
This is the third major counter-terror operation in North Kashmir in the last four days. Nine LeT terrorists including top commanders Mehmood Bhai, Zargam Bhai and the nephew of 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi have been eliminated in two operations of Hajin and Handwara since Saturday.
"We got specific inputs that the militants were hiding in a house. We laid a cordon in the morning as we did not want to put the people thtough any inconvenience," said Brigadier Mohit Trivedi, Commander 8-Sector Rashtriya Riffles of the Army.
After locating the terrorists, the army asked them to surrender. They, however, responded by opening fire on the search party. "We retaliated in which three foreign LeT terrorists were killed," he said.
The number of terrorists killed this year by the security forces has now touched 194. 21 terrorists have been killed in November so far. Sources said more than 71 security force personnel have lost their lives in the line of duty this year so far.
Sources said 70 new ultras have been able to infiltrate Kashmir this year. Last year estimated net infiltration (number of militants who managed to sneak in) was 112 as compared to 33 in 2015. Similarly estimated net infiltration was 65 in 2014 compared to 97 in 2013.
Brigadier Trivedi said the operation was conducted inn surgical style so that people are put to least inconvenience. "House has been saved and outer area in which militants were hiding suffered damaged. They were in the cowshed which caught fire and their bodies were charred. It was fresh infiltration", he said
This is the fourth operation in the valley in the last four days. A local ultra, Adil Rashid Chopan, who had fled the encounter when top commander Sabzar Bhat was neutralized in May, was finally killed by the security forces in an encounter in Tral forests of south Kashmir on Monday.
Another mother takes to video
Another woman has released a video appealing to her terrorist son to return home in Tral. The 45-second-long video of the mother of 18-year-old Irfan Ahmad Rather, who recently joined Hizbul Mujahedeen, has gone viral. She is the fourth mother who took to posting an appeal through video.
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