Militant duo involved in attacks on migrant workers killed in Pulwama encounter

He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the hiding militants fired upon the forces who retaliated

Two local militants affiliated with Al-Badr outfit, who were involved in the recent attacks on migrant labourers, were killed in a pre-dawn encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday.

“#PulwamaEncounterUpdate: Both killed terrorists identified as local terrorists namely Aijaz Hafiz & Shahid Ayub, of Al-Badr outfit. 02 AK rifles recovered. They had been involved in a series of attacks on outside labourers in Pulwama in the month of March-April 2022: IGP Kashmir (sic),” Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.

Reports said the encounter erupted after a joint team of J&K police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Mitrigam area of Pulwama, 32 km from here, following a tip-off about the presence of militants in the area.

As the security forces approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon the search team, which retaliated, triggering off a gunfight, police said. In the gunfight both the militants were killed.

The last two weeks have seen a surge in violence across Kashmir with 14 militants including some top local and foreign commanders killed during encounters with security forces.

However, despite security forces managing to keep militants under pressure by launching back-to-back operations, they have managed to carry out attacks on the forces and civilians in different parts of the valley.

As per official figures, 63 militants, including 20 foreigners, have been killed by security forces in Kashmir this year. Twelve security personnel and 10 civilians have also lost their lives during the year.

Last year in 87 encounters, 168 militants were killed by the security forces in Kashmir. Among them, 19 were foreigners while 149 were locals.

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