Jaish duo killed, civilian injured in Anantnag encounter

SRINAGAR: A Jaish-e-Mohammad commander and his aide were killed in an anti-terror operation in Viddy Srigufwara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Monday. A woman living near the encounter site was also injured in the exchange of fire, IGP (Kashmir Range) Vijay Kumar said.
One of the slain terrorists was identified as Nasir alias Shahbaz alias Baz Bhai, an ‘A’ category terrorist from Pakistan, while the identity of the second terrorist, a local, was being ascertained.
In the morning, a joint team of J&K Police, Army’s 3 RR and CRPF’s E/116 Bn launched a cordon-and-search operation in Srigufwara based on intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists there. As the security forces neared the suspected hideout, holed-up ultras opened fire at the search party, triggering an encounter in which the Jaish duo was killed, IGP Kumar said. Police said the terrorists were given a chance to surrender but they refused to yield and opened fire at the security forces instead.
A woman government teacher, identified as Arifa Jan, sustained bullet injuries in the exchange of fire and was taken to the Anantnag GMC for treatment. GMC principal Dr Showkat Jeelani confirmed that her condition was stable.
Arms and ammunition along with other incriminating material were recovered from the spot of the gunfight and searches were underway, the IGP said. Meanwhile, internet services were temporarily suspended in Anantnag as a precautionary measure.
As many as 130 local and non-local terrorists — including some top commanders like Riyaz Naikoo of Hizbul Mujahideen, Qari Yasir of Jaish, Hyder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Burhan Koka of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind — have been killed in Kashmir Valley this year so far, IGP Kumar added.