Srinagar: Two terrorists were killed in an encounter in Naupora Mir Bazar area of Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir Police said that the slain terrorists belonged to the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). “Both the slain terrorists have been identified as local terrorists of banned terror outfit Lashkar. Again, a crucial encounter was very close to the NHW (yatra route) as the site of the operation,” said IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar.
An official overseeing the operation had earlier said that a joint team of police and army had launched “a cordon and search operation in Mir Bazaar on a specific input that terrorists are hiding in the area.” “As the joint team of forces reached the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired upon the security forces, triggering an encounter,” the official said. Notably, the encounter site was just 4 km from the National Highway where the first batch was to Shri Amarnath Yatra 2022 has passed.
This was the 73rd encounter in Kashmir after January this year. Security forces have killed 123 terrorists, of which 33 were Pakistanis. While 16 security personnel and 19 civilians have also been killed.
Meanwhile, 46 active terrorists, mostly hybrid terrorists and 192 terrorist supporters have also been arrested in Kashmir this year.