Four militants including two top Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders were killed and a soldier was martyred in an encounter in Kashmir’s Shopian and Kulgam districts on Wednesday as the operation entered its 10th day.
The security forces had carried out a crackdown following input about the presence of the militants in Shopian. Police said that the militants were linked to the Resistance Front, an offshoot of LeT.
IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said that one of the militants killed was identified as Adil Ahmad Wani who was active since July 2020 and was LeT district commander in Shopian. Kumar said that Wani was involved in the killing of carpenter Sagir Ahmad Ansari of Uttar Pradesh who was shot dead on Sunday in the Litter area of Pulwama district.
IGP Kumar said that the two killed in Kulgam included Gulzar Ahmad Reshi who is a LeT district commander and was involved in killings on October 17 in the Wanpoh area.
During the Shopian operation three soldiers were injured, one of them succumbed to his injuries, while the condition of two others were stable. The operation in Poonch-Rajouri meanwhile entered its 10th day. Nine soldiers including two JCOs have been martyred in the operation.
