Four local militants, affiliated with Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit, were killed in a pre-dawn encounter with security forces in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Monday.
One soldier was also injured in the gun battle which erupted after army’s 34 Rashtriya Rifles and J&K police launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Manihal village of Imamsahib belt in Shopian, 55 kms from here, on specific information about the presence of militants in the area.
A police spokesperson said that militants turned down repeated surrender offers by the security forces. As the search party of the security forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them, which was retaliated, triggering an encounter, in which all the four hiding ultras were killed, he said.
The slain militants were identified as - Aamir Shafi, Rayees Bhat, Aaqib Malik and Altaf Ahmad Wani, all locals
Last week, three militants, including a top commander, were killed in Rawalpora village of the same districts in a similar operation. The operation continued for three days. Police said among the dead was Vilayat Ahmad Lone alias Sajjad Afghani, a commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit.
According to official figures 20 militancy related incidents were reported in Kashmir from January 1 till date in which 18 militants were killed.
Last year, 225 militants, including 46 commanders, and 60 security forces personnel, including 16 policemen were killed in over 103 anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir while 38 civilians had also lost their lives in militancy-related incidents.
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