At least six terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir early on Sunday (November 25).
This takes the count of terrorists neutralised in past 72 hours to 12.
Six operatives, linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul Mujahideen, were killed on Friday (November 23) in a gun battle with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district.
Azad Malik, accused of killing journalist Shujaat Bukhaari, was one of the six killed. The 50-year-old editor was attacked by three bike-borne assailants while he was entering his car on June 14 this year, in Srinagar.
Five of the terrorists, killed on Sunday, have been identified as - LeT district commander Mushtaq Mir, Hizb district commander Abbas Ali, Hizb deputy chief in Shopian Waseem Wagay urf Saif Ullah, Omar Majeed Gani and Khalid Farooq urf Talha. The sixth one is suspected to be a Pakistani terrorist.
The militants killed in Friday's gun battle in Bijbehera area in south Kashmir were identified as Unais Shafi, Shahid Bashir, Basit Ishtiyaq, Aqib Najar and Firdous Najar.
In regard with Sunday's operation, the security officials said they had launched a cordon and search operation in the area following information about the presence of terrorists. The search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon the forces.
Mobile internet services have reportedly been suspended in Shopian.
(With inputs from agencies and Ashraf Wani)