Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): Two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists have been killed in an ongoing encounter at Hardshiva village of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said.
Kashmir Zone Police tweeted that the two militants whose identity is yet to be ascertained were killed while the search operation was on.
A police official said that two militants have been killed in the Hardshiva operation and both seem to be locals. “Search operation is on to rule out the presence of any other militant,” he said, adding that both the slain terrorists belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit.
In the wee hours, the cordon was launched by joint teams of Army’s 22 RR, Police and the CRPF at Hardshiva village of apple town of Sopore. The police official said that the militants were given a chance to surrender but they refused and fired, triggering a gun-battle.
The authorities have suspended mobile internet services in the entire police district of Sopore as a precautionary measure to prevent any law and order situation. Police have requested the locals of the area not to go closer to the encounter spot till the area is properly sanitized.
Pertinently, today’s operation is first against militants in north Kashmir after a long gap as security forces had been conducting operations in southern districts of the Valley so far where 108 militants have been killed since January this year. Kashmir range police chief Vijay Kumar had recently said that after wiping out militancy from the South, security agencies will shift their focus on north Kashmir.
-ARK
