Jammu and Kashmir: Two LeT militants killed in Srinagar encounter

Srinagar: Two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, including a Pakistani national, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Srinagar, police said on Tuesday.

"Two terrorists of banned terror outfit LeT were neutralised by Srinagar Police in an encounter in Bemina area of Srinagar city. One policeman sustained minor injuries in the operation," a police official said.

The 'chance encounter' took place late Monday night.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar said as per the documents and other incriminating materials recovered from the encounter site, one of the killed terrorists has been identified as Abdullah Goujri, a resident of Faisalabad in Pakistan.

"This was the same group of terrorists which had escaped from Sopore encounter. We have been tracking their movement," the IGP said.

He said the other slain militant was identified as Adil Hussain Mir alias Sufian, a resident of Anantnag district.

"As per police records, he crossed over to Pakistan in 2018 on visit visa from Wagah," Kumar said.

Bloody year so far in the Valley

Security forces have killed 103 terrorists in Kashmir during counter insurgency operations since the beginning of this year, with Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit bearing the maximum brunt as it lost 63 cadres, officials said here on Monday.

In addition, 20 civilians and 18 security forces have been killed so far this year.

No end in sight

Jammu and Kashmir, long a breeding ground of separatist ambitions, has been wracked by the insurgency since 1989.

Although the failure of Indian governance and democracy lay at the root of the initial disaffection, Pakistan played an important role in converting the latter into a fully-developed armed insurgency.

Some insurgent groups in Kashmir support complete independence, whereas others seek the region's accession to Pakistan.

Since the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, the Indian military has intensified its counter-insurgency operations in the region.

In the first three months of 2022, there was a 100% increase in the number of Indian soldiers killed by Kashmiri militants compared to the same period in 2021.

(with inputs from PTI)