J&K: The three jawans who sacrificed their lives in anti-terror operations in south Kashmir, 13 terrorists killed

Three soldiers have been martyredin a counter-insurgency operations in three different areas in South Kashmir where 13 terrorists were gunned on Sunday.

The three Army jawans, who lost their lives while battling terrorists, were been identified as Sepoy Hetram, Gunner Nilesh Singh, and Gunner Arvinder Kumar.

Hailing from Sonigassar Godars village of Bikaner district of Rajasthan, 25-year-old Hetram joined the army on December 25, 2013.

Hailing from Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, 31-year-old Kumar joined the army on December 2, 2003.

Arvinder Kumar, who hailed from Village Sariana of Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, joined the army on June 26, 2012.

Around 13 terrorists were gunned down in counter-insurgency operations in three different areas in South Kashmir where three Army jawans and four civilians were also killed.

"Encounter concluded. Two more terrorist bodies recovered from Shopian encounter site. In all 13 terrorists neutralised, three soldiers martyred and one terrorist caught alive. It’s unfortunate that stone pelting around encounter site cost four civilian deaths," Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid wrote in a Tweet late in the evening on Sunday. 

Earlier, at a press conference called at Victor Force headquarters at Awantipura, around 33 kms from here, Corps Commander of XV Corps, Lt Gen A K Bhatt, termed it one of the biggest operations in recent times and said the death of Lt Umar Fayaz, who was brutally killed in Shopian last year, had been avenged.

"Among the militants killed are Ishfaq Malik and Rayees Thokar. They were responsible for his death," Bhatt said.Fayaz, 22, was killed by militants in May last year. His body was found with bullet wounds in the Hermain area of Shopian district in south Kashmir.

Based on the specific intelligence inputs about the presence of militants and high-value targets, security forces launched three counter-terror operations in Anantnag and Shopian districts of the South Kashmir on Saturday night.

The operations by security forces rendered a severe dent to militant groups such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashker-e-Taiba, officials said here.

Based on the specific intelligence inputs about the presence of militants and high-value targets, security forces launched three counter-terror operations in Anantnag and Shopian districts of the South Kashmir on Saturday night.