J&K: Four terrorists gunned down in encounter at Shopian's Pinjora; three security officials injured

An encounter between terrorists and joint security forces broke out on early Monday morning at the Pinjora village of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)'s Shopian district. Around four to five terrorists were believed to have been trapped in the region.

However, according to the latest updates delivered by the Kashmir News Observer (KNO), it has now been ascertained that four terrorists have been gunned down in the encounter in south Kashmir, while three security officials have ended up injured.

The identities of the four deceased terrorists were ascertained while a search operation in the area was also carried out. According to the police, the slain terrorists belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit, with two of them being old members of the group.

The Director-General of Police (DGP) said, "All four terrorists killed in another Police operation launched this early morning today along with Army and CRPF units. They belong to the Hizbul Mujahideen and two are high ranking and old ones."

He added, “With this encounter, a total of nine terrorists of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit have now been neutralised in the last 24 hours."

Earlier, the Kashmir Zone Police had confirmed the development and said that a joint team of J&K Police and security forces are carrying out the operation.

An official said that a joint security team of J&K Police, the Indian Army’s 44 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), and the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) had launched a search and cordon operation on specific input about the presence of militants in the area. It was said that as the joint team of forces approached towards the suspected spot, the terrorists in hiding fired upon them which was retaliated, triggering an encounter.

This is the second encounter in the last 24 hours in the Shopian district. Notably, another encounter had also occurred yesterday at the Reban area of Shopian, following which five terrorists, including a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander, were gunned down. Several incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were recovered from the militants.

Following Sunday's gunfight, internet services had been snapped in the Shopian and Kulgam districts of south Kashmir.

More than 80 terrorists have now been slain this year by joint security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.