Top Jaish commander among 3 terrorists killed in gunfight
Three militants affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit were killed in a gunbattle with security forces in South Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. This marks the second such gunbattle this week in the region, bringing the total number of militants killed to six.
The encounter took place early Thursday morning in Nader village of Awantipora’s Tral area, after security forces cordoned off the area following intelligence inputs about the presence of militants. Officials said as the search operation was underway, militants fired at the security forces, triggering a fierce gunfight.
Army’s 15 Corps said suspicious activity was observed by vigilant troops and on being challenged terrorists opened heavy fire and fierce gunfight ensued.
By late evening, the Army said three hardcore terrorists have been eliminated in the Nader operations.
Police sources confirmed that all three slain militants were locals from South Kashmir. One of them, Asif Sheikh, a category A commander and a prominent figure in the JeM, was active since April 2022.
Security forces use a categorisation system ranging from A++ (most dangerous) to C. Sheikh hailed from Tral.
The killing of these militants is being seen as a significant setback to the JeM outfit in the region.
On Thursday, videos of the gunfight, including one of the terrorists talking to his family over the phone during the operation, went viral on social media. The Awantipora police issued an advisory asking people not to upload, share, or circulate pictures, videos etc related to the encounter.
“Sharing such content can unintentionally promote extremist propaganda. It may affect the ongoing investigation process. Circulating un-verified information can spread fear/panic . If you come across such content, do not engage with it,” the police urged.
This is the second major gunbattle which has taken place in South Kashmir as after Pahalgam incident.
On Tuesday, after an encounter took place in nearby Shopian district three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed in the encounter. Top LeT commander Shahid Kuttay was among three militants.
The Army said the slain individuals were involved in “recent terror activities” in the region.
