Lashkar's senior most Pakistani commander among 3 terrorists killed, 4 security men injured in separate Kashmir gun battles
Nov 02, 2024
SRINAGAR: Three suspected terrorists including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) senior most Pakistani commander were killed and four security men were injured in separate gunbattles in Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.
The first encounter of the day broke out between terrorists and security forces in Srinagar's old city.
The encounter- the first in Srinagar in over two years- broke out when joint teams of forces launched a cordon and a search operation in the Khaniyar area of the city following an input about terrorist presence.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir V K Birdi said as the cordon was being laid, a volley of bullets were fired at the security forces.
"After that, the operation started which went on from early morning to evening. In the operation one foreign terrorist of LeT was killed," he said, adding that two policemen and two CRPF personnel were wounded in the encounter.
Birdi identified the slain as a Usman Lashkari alias Chota Waleed.
IGP said that Usman Lashkari's role and involvement in the murder of Inspector Masroor Ahmed Wani has come to light and further investigation is being done in this regard.
Inspector Masroor was shot in the last year while playing cricket at the Eidgah ground in Srinagar. He succumbed at AIIMS, New Delhi a month later.
A senior police officer said Usman was the senior most Pakistani commander of Lashkar in Kashmir and his killing has dealt a major blow to the outfit in Jammu and Kashmir.
"As per the LeT, Usman was active here from the last 20 years," the officer said , adding that the slain was also a right hand of Sajad Gul, TRF (The Resistance Front) commander based in Pakistan.
A residential house was destroyed during the Srinagar gunbattle, locals said.
This was the first gunbattle in Srinagar over the last two years. The last encounter took place on September 20, 2022 at Nowgam area in which two local terrorists of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) were killed.
In another encounter , two terrorists were killed in south Kashmir's Anantnag district.
The encounter broke out in the rugged forest area at Larnoo area of Anantnag when an operation was launched by the joint after receiving specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the area.
The operation is still underway.
The Army said the operation that led to the killing of two terrorists was launched on a specific input.
"Based on specific input, a Joint Operation was launched by IndianArmy, @JmuKmrPolice & @crpf_srinagar in gen area Halkan Gali, Anantnag. On 02 Nov 2024, suspicious movement near Halkan Gali was observed and challenged by vigilant troops, as a result, terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on own column. Own troops effectively retaliated, resulting in elimination of two terrorists. Operation is in progress," Army's Srinagar based Chinar Corps said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, a massive search operation is underway in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district where there was an exchange of fire late Friday.
The Army said that late Friday evening, suspicious movement was spotted in the Panar area in Bandipora and when the terrorists were challenged, they opened indiscriminate fire and escaped into the jungle. A search operation is underway.
"On 01 Nov 2024 late evening, suspicious movement was spotted, in gen area Panar of Bandipora, by alert troops. On being challenged, terrorists opened indiscriminate fire and escaped into the jungle. Search Operation underway," Army's Srinagar based Chinar Corps said in a post on X.
The exchange of fire in Bandipora took place hours after terrorists shot at and injured two migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh in central Kashmir's Budgam district
