LeT commander, involved in killing of civilians, cops neutralised in J&K's Sopore

The security forces have cordoned off the area and the exchange of firing is going on

Three militants, including a commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) involved in the killing of policemen and civilians, were killed in an overnight gunfight with security forces in Sopore town of north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Monday.

The encounter started after J&K police, army and paramilitary CRPF launched a joint cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Gund Brath, Sopore, following specific input about the presence of militants in the area on Sunday night, police said.

The gunfight ended early on Monday with the killing of three LeT militants, one of them a Pakistani.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said one among the slain militants was LeT commander Mudasir Pandith, who was involved in the killing of three policemen, two councillors and two civilians in recent months in Sopore.

Pandith, he said, was also involved in other militancy-related incidents and termed his killing as a big success.

"With the killing of Pandith, not only people of Sopore will get a respite, but recruitment of new youths into militancy will also stop in the area," the Kashmir police chief said.

Pertinently, 55 militants have been killed in J&K so far this year and most of them were locals.

Last year, 203 militants, including 166 locals were killed by security forces across the Valley. As many as 157 militants were killed in Kashmir in 2019 while the number was 257 in 2018 which was the highest in a decade.