4 militants killed, one arrested in separate encounters in J-K

Four militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfits, including a top commander, were on Saturday killed in two separate encounters with security forces in Kulgam and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Four militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfits, including a top commander, were on Saturday killed in two separate encounters with security forces in Kulgam and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. A militant was also arrested following the encounter with the security forces, they said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Chingam area of Kulgam district of south Kashmir late Friday night following specific inputs about the presence of militants there, a police official said. He said the search operation turned into an encounter after militants fired upon a security forces party, who retaliated.

In the exchange of fire, two militants were killed, the official said. They have been identified as Tariq Ahmad Mir, resident of Zangalpora Divsar Kulgam; and a Pakistani national identified as Sameer Bhai alias Usman, resident of Punjab Pakistan, and an "A" category militant, the official said.

He said both militants were affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad. "As per the police records, both the killed terrorists were part of groups responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks. They were involved in many terror crimes and civilian atrocities, including killing of police official Khursid Ahmad at Furah Mirbazzar and attack on sarpanch Aarif Ahmad at Akhran Mirbazzar in which he was critically injured," the official said.

An Army official said an M4 rifle and a pistol have been recovered from the site of the encounter. In another operation in Dadoora area of Pulwama district of south Kashmir, two militants were killed, police said.

The police said the encounter started after security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation following information about the presence of militants there. They said the killed militants belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and included the outfit's top commander Zahid Nazir Bhat alias Zahid Tiger.

"It is a big success for the security forces," a police official said. Two AK rifles have been recovered from the encounter site, he added.

The Kashmir Zone police, on its official Twitter handle, said the security forces arrested a recently-joined militant during the encounter. "Police & SFs have done a #commendable work by #arresting a newly joined #terrorist along with #arms & ammunition during live #encounter today at #Pulwama," it said. PTI SSB SRY

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