SRINAGAR: Two terrorist, who were involved in recent attacks on civilians, were shot dead in an anti-terror operation in Tral area of Pulwama district in southern Kashmir, police said on Wednesday.
“AGuH’s (Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind) Safat Muzzaffar Sofi alias Muavia and LeT’s Umer Teli alias Talha killed in Tral,” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said in a tweet.
“Before shifting to Tral area both were involved in several (terror) crimes in Srinagar city including recent killing of Sarpanch (Sameer Ahmad) in Khanmoh, Srinagar,” he said.
The ant-terror operation began after a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police and 42 Rashtriya Rifles launched a cordon and search operation in Tral. When the joint team approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired upon them, triggering off a gunfight.
Kashmir said two terrorists eliminated in Tral were also involved a series of attacks including grenade throwing. “They were operating in Srinagar and had shifted to Tral recently,” the IG said.
IGP Kashmir range said that police along with the security forces have started night patrolling in remote villages of Kashmir where non-locals work and Kashmiri Pandits live to prevent terror attacks. “This is to prevent militants from attacking soft targets,” the IGP said.
He further said that terrorists involved in recent attacks on non-J&K residents in Pulwama and a Kashmiri Pandit in a remote village of Shopian have been identified.
Kumar said 66 militants including Jaish-e-Muhammad commanders and militants were killed in various encounters since December last year. “Foreign militants are pushing locals forward to keep themselves safe, but we are tracking foreigners too and will either arrest them or kill them in encounters,” he said.