J&K police guns down 3 terrorists as ISIS affiliated module is busted

Three militants including Eesa Fazli and Syed Owais, both of whom left their B. Tech third year course to join militancy, were killed in an encounter today, a development being seen as a blow to the attempts by the notorious terror group ISIS to gain ground in the Kashmir Valley. Three militants were spotted at a village in the Hakura area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir late last night and special teams were despatched after intelligence inputs confirmed the presence of Fazli and Owais, officials said. The locality was cordoned at 1 AM and in a brief encounter, the three cadres of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, a terror group which has announced its affiliation to the ISIS, were gunned down as they tried to escape under the cover of darkness, they said. The operation was kept "top secret" till its execution as Fazli had managed to give the security forces a slip man a times before, an official said. "In the process, arms and ammunition which include AK 47 rifles, pistols, hand-grenades, etc. were recovered from the encounter site. There was no collateral damage during the operation, " a police spokesman said. One of the slain militants was involved in a recent attack on a police guard post at Soura in the city, in which a police constable was killed, he added. Fazli along with Owais left engineering studies in third year and joined militancy in 2017. It was initially believed that the two had joined Hizbul Mujahideen, but later it was found they were part of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a radical outfit which called for jihad to establish caliphate in Kashmir. Son of a principal, Fali went missing from his hostel room in Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) in Rajouri on 17 August last year. His death was also announced by his father on Facebook. The helpless parent had been making fervent appeals for his return. Security officials said Fazli and Owais were touted as "terror factories" as they were radicalising youths in the Valley. The bodies of the two were laid to rest separately.

While Owais was buried at his village in Kokernag in south Kashmir, Fazli was laid to rest in Srinagar city. Hundreds of mourners turned up for the funeral and in Kokernag, some militants appeared and fired in air as well. ISIS flags were waved at Fazli's residence when his body was brought for the funeral. Immediately after the news of the death of the three broke, pictures appeared on social media sites, believed to be run by youths owing allegiance to ISIS. The three were identified as -- Abu Zarr al Hindi, Eisa Roohullah al Kashmiri and Abu Baraa al Kashmiri. Meanwhile, authorities ordered closure of schools and other educational institutions as a precautionary measure. A senior official said schools and colleges were closed to maintain law and order. Kashmir University suspended classes for the day and postponed examinations. A spokesperson of the varsity said the revised date for examinations scheduled for today will be announced later.

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