Three unidentified militants killed in Kashmir’s Sopore

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation at Pethseer in Sopore area late Monday night

Three militants affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), an affiliate of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit, were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Tuesday.

The night-long gunfight at Pethseer, Sopore erupted after a joint team of army’s 52-Rashtriya Rifles, J&K police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a cordon-and-search-operation following inputs about the presence of militants in the area.

A police spokesperson said that the trapped militants were given an opportunity to surrender, however, they fired indiscriminately upon the security forces, which was retaliated leading to an encounter in which three local militants were killed.

They were identified as Faisal Fayaz Thokar, Rameez Ganie (both residents of Shopian) and Ghulam Mustafa Sheikh resident of Kupwara. Police said the slain militants were affiliated with militant outfit LeT/TRF.

The latest encounter comes barely a few hours after the police killed two top commanders of the TRF in Srinagar, The duo, according to the police, were responsible for several killings and motivating the youth to join terror ranks. Sheikh was one of the longest surviving militants as he had cases registered against him that go back to 2006.

102 militants and 21 security forces and police personnel have been killed in Jammu Kashmir since the beginning of this year. The highest number of militants (31) were killed in July, while 14 were neutralised in the first 24 days of this month.

Among over 102 militants killed in J&K this year, only 11 were Pakistanis, while the rest were all locals. According to the army, there are still 200-225 militants active across J&K despite the fact that almost no infiltration has taken place so far this year.

Official data reveal that 82 locals joined militancy in the first seven months of 2021, while 88 ultras were killed in the same period in encounters with the security forces.

The spate of recruitment suggests that the counter-offensive of security forces is proving to be a zero-sum game, as for every militant killed, a new one is immediately being recruited. Last year, there were around 220 active militants in Kashmir and despite the killing of 80 militants this year, the number, as per police records, remains more or less the same.