5 LeT terrorists, Army jawan killed in encounter in J&K's Pulwama

Five militants affiliated with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit, including a commander, and a soldier of the Indian Army were killed in an overnight gunfight between security forces and ultras in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday.

The gunfight erupted after the Army and J&K police launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Hanjan village of Rajpora in Pulwama late Thursday based on a ‘tip-off’ on Thursday evening.

The hiding militants opened fire on the security forces thereby triggering off a gunfight, reports said. In the ensuing firefight, five militants, including LeT commander Nishaz Lone and a Pakistani ultra, were killed. The identities of the three other slain militants were not revealed by the police till late in the evening.

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One Army soldier was also injured during the encounter and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.

Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar while terming the operation a ‘big success’ said Nishaz Lone was district commander of the LeT.

Pertinently 66 militants and 18 security forces and J&K police personnel have been killed in Kashmir since the beginning of this year.

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.