Five militants killed in two separate encounters in Kashmir

Five militants were killed in two separate encounters with security forces in south Kashmir districts of Pulwama and Shopian on Tuesday.

Three militants were killed in Hakripora, Pulwama, 30 km from here after a joint team of Army’s 50-Rashtriya Rifles and J&K police launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in the area following inputs about the presence of ultras there.

A police official said as the forces closed in over the hiding place of the militants, they opened fire on them which was retaliated triggering an encounter.

Inspector General Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar while confirming the killing of three militants in the encounter said that they were involved in an attack on a CRPF party on Monday in which two paramilitary personnel were injured.

Sources said the slain militants were affiliated with the LeT outfit and were all locals.

In a separate incident, two more militants were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in the neighboring Shopian district. The gunbattle had started in the Melhura area of Shopian on Monday which continued till Tuesday morning.

The identity and group affiliation of the militants were not known immediately.

In relentless anti-insurgency operations, security forces have killed nearly 200 militants, including 26 foreigners, in 85 operations across Jammu and Kashmir this year. 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.

In 2019, out of 157 slain militants, 32 were Pakistanis and the majority of them (19) belonged to the Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit.

In 2019, local militants accounted for 79% of deaths in encounters while the number has grown to 88% this year.