JOIN USTop LeT commander among 2 killed in encounter with security forces in J&K's Shopian
A commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who had deserted the ranks of Jammu and Kashmir Police four years ago, was among two militants killed in an overnight encounter in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday.
Reports said the gunfight erupted after a joint team of army, J&K police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a cordon-and-search operation in Check Sadiq Khan area of Shopian on Sunday night.
Police said the search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened fire on security forces, who retaliated. In the ensuing firefight, two militants affiliated with the LeT were killed.
Police identified the slain militants as Ishfaq Dar alias Abu Akram, a top commander of the LeT, who was active since 2017 and Majid Iqbal, both locals. Ishfaq had joined the LeT in 2017 after working as a constable in J&K police from 2010.
Police said that incriminating material including arms and ammunition has been recovered from the slain militants' possession.
There has been a spurt in gun battles between militants and security forces in Kashmir since the beginning of this month after witnessing a decline in May and June apparently due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
While 16 ultras were killed in May and June, in the first 19-days of this month 22 ultras, mostly from the LeT, have been gunned down by security forces in nine encounters.
Pertinently 80 militants and 18 security forces and J&K police personnel have been killed in Kashmir since the beginning of this year. Out of 80 militants killed this year, 41 belonged to the LeT followed by Hizbul Mujahideen, Al-Badr, Jash-e-Mohammad and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
Over 200 militants were killed in Kashmir in 2020 while the number of 157 in 2019. In 2018, the number of militants killed stood at 257– which was the highest in a decade.