LeT district commander among two militants killed in Soura encounter; no collateral damage

In a major success against militants, the Jammu and Kashmir police killed two militants in an encounter in Soura area of Srinagar City this afternoon. The killed militants included one wanted commander of Lashker-I –Toiba.

This afternoon militants fired upon a Police patrolling party in Awanta Bhawan area of police station Soura on the outskirts of Srinagar city. The fire was returned and in the retaliatory fire, one militant got killed while another one took shelter in a shed. The Police and CRPF engaged the militant in a gunfight, who started firing from the shed. In this encounter this militant also got killed.

One of the killed militants have been identified as Qari Asrar of Lashker-I-Toiba who was functioning as district commander of the said outfit. Qari Asrar was an active member of LeT central Kashmir Huraira Group. He was involved in number of militant related incidents including one attack on Hotel Silver Star on Nowgam Bye-pass on 19-10-2012. He was also involved in launching the militants particularly in South Kashmir.

There was no collateral damage in this encounter. Arms and ammunition including 02 AK rifles and 07 magazines and hand grenades have been recovered from the encounter site.