According to Police, an encounter had started at the Pathanpora area of Budgam on Thursday morning.
Hours after an encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Thursday, two militants, who were believed to be in the area, managed to escape, police said.
A senior Jammu and Kashmir police officer told The Indian Express that the two militants managed to “escape”. “We had inputs that two JeM militants were there. After firing and throwing grenades, they escaped. One pistol, six magazines of AK rifles and other materials were left behind,” he added.
According to Police, encounter broke out at Pathanpora area of Budgam. “Encounter has started at Pathanpora area of Budgam. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow,” Kashmir Police Zone said on Twitter.
#Encounter has started at #Pathanpora area of #Budgam. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow. @JmuKmrPolice
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) June 10, 2020
The operation came a day after five militants were killed in Shopian district of South Kashmir. This was the third encounter in the district within 72 hours. A total of 14 militants have been killed in these three encounters.
Wednesday’s encounter took place at Sugoo area of Shopian after joint forces cordoned off the area on the basis of an intelligence input.
An official said four out of the five local militants killed on Wednesday were affiliated to the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of them being a district commander of the outfit. The one other militant was affiliated to Lashkar-e-Taiba, said the official.
“We have another successful operation today after Shopian Police generated intelligence in which five militants were killed and one of them is a HM commander. Since Sunday, 14 militants have been killed in three operations in Shopian district. It was a group of militants from HM and LeT outfits,” IGP, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar told The Indian Express. “I congratulate the ground officers for no collateral damage.”
Also, security forces have gunned down 89 militants in the Valley so far in this year. Among those killed are top leaders of four militant outfits, including Hizbul Mujahideen operations chief Riyaz Naikoo.
According to official data, more than half of the militants killed since January 1 were affiliated to Hizbul and most slain militants were local residents, The Indian Express has learnt.