Six terrorists, including three owing allegiance to Jaish-e-Mohammad, have been killed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Army and the CRPF in two major anti-terror operations in the Valley during the last 48 hours, officers said at a joint press conference today.
Identifying one of the slain terrorists as Shahid Kuttee, Inspector General of Police for Kashmir Zone, V K Birdi, said that he was involved in two major attacks, including one on a German tourist.
“He also had a hand in (terror) funding activities,” he said. “We are committed to ending the terror ecosystem here.”
Birdi attributed the successful operations to an intensified focus on operations by all security agencies deployed in J&K after they reviewed their strategies in the wake of heightened terror activities in the Valley.
Major General Dhananjay Joshi, who was also present at the briefing, said an operation was launched in the higher reaches of Kelar on May 12 following specific information about the presence of a terrorist group there.
The search parties detected movement of terrorists on the morning of May 13. On being challenged, the terrorists opened fire, he said, adding that three of them were killed in the ensuing firefight.
The second operation was conducted in a border village in the Tral area following a specific tip-off. “When we were laying a cordon in the village, terrorists positioned themselves in different houses and fired at us,” he said.
He pointed out that the challenge police and security forces faced at the time was to first ensure the safety of the civilian villagers. “After we rescued the civilians, we systematically searched and neutralised three terrorists,” he said.
The two encounters come weeks after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. The incident had prompted India to launch strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK and led to heightened tensions between the two countries till a pause on military operations was announced.
