On Monday, four militants from the Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) organisation were killed and an army personnel wounded in a standoff in the Manihal region of South Kashmir’s Shopian.
According to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar, four LeT terrorists were killed and one army officer was wounded in the standoff.
IGP Kumar described that the encounter was one of the fierce, stating that security forces carried a cordon-and-search investigation in the Manihal area around midnight after receiving information on the presence of militants in the area.
He explained that government troops had pleaded to militants to surrender and had gathered their relatives, including a militant’s wife and a four-year-old boy, to do so. They, on the other hand, declined.
The militants promptly opened fire on the security forces, as per Kumar. He went on to say that there was a gun fight in which four militants were slain and an Army jawan was wounded. The wounded soldier is being treated in a hospital.
“All four were categorised militants, belonging to LeT outfit. Although, they call themselves as Lashkar-e-Mustafa, they are listed as LeT militants in our records. All these names, including TRF (The Resistance Front) are the offshoots of the LeT or Jaish-e-Mohammad,” he said.
He further stated that three pistols as well as an AK-47 were retrieved from the site of the encounter.
Rayees Ahmad Bhat, who’s been active since October of last year, Amir Shafi Mir, who’s been active since last month, Raqib Ahmad Malik, who has been active since December of last year, and Aftab Ahmad Wani, who has been active since November of last year, were named as the militants.
As per the IGP, nine encounters have reported in the valley this year, eight in south Kashmir and one in the north.
“In these nine encounters, 19 terrorists have been killed. Nine out them were from Shopian district alone while two were top commanders,” Kumar said.
Kumar also said that 18 youths have joined various militant groups this year of which five have been killed in encounters while three have been arrested.
