SRINAGAR: A day after the police gunned down the chief and the deputy chief of The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, three more terrorists were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Sopore in north Kashmir on Tuesday. Tuesday’s encounter took the number of terrorists killed this year to over 100.
A police official said a joint contingent of police, CRPF and army laid siege to Pethseer area at Sopore in Baramulla district last evening after receiving inputs about the presence of terrorists.
“After plugging all possible escape routes, troops zeroed-in on the terrorists’ location and asked them to surrender. They turned down the offer and fired towards the search party. The fire was returned, triggering an encounter,” he said.
The official, however, said due to darkness, the operation was suspended but the cordon was tightened.
“In the wee hours, the final assault was launched on terrorists and in the ensuing gunfight, which continued till afternoon, three TRF terrorists were killed,” he said.
Of the three slain terrorists, two hailed from Shopian in south Kashmir and one from Kupwara. Police said an AK-47 rifle and two pistols were recovered from the encounter site.
Meanwhile, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said with the death of the three terrorists on Tuesday, over 100 terrorists have been killed in different encounters by security forces in Kashmir in 2021 so far.
He said anti-militancy operations would continue but reiterated his appeal to the local terrorists to shun the path of violence and return to the mainstream.
“Police is committed to accepting them with open arms as society needs them the most, especially their parents,” added the IGP.