Two militants have been killed and five government force personnel injured during the encounter in Kulgam.
Offical sources told The Kashmiriyat that on Friday night, the encounter began when militants fired upon a joint party of government forces who had cordoned the Adigam area in Kulgam district.
During the following gunfire, five troopers were injured and two militants were killed.
One of the slain as per officials has been identified as Umais Wani, a resident of Kulgam district in south Kashmir.
Both were affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Umais, a resident of Kulgam’s Chawalgam area was missing since August 26, 2020, as per the family members.
Addressing a joint press conference with Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of South Kashmir range, Javaid Iqbal Matoo, Commander of 2 Sector RR, Brigadier Anirudh Chauhan, stated that based on specific intelligence received early in the morning, joint security forces cordoned off a suspected location in the Arigam area of Kulgam.
“We had been tracking this group’s movements for the past month. At 6:30 am, the terrorists attempted to escape the cordon but were forced back into a house,” the army officer explained. “To ensure the safety of civilians, the operation lasted 12 hours. Two terrorists were killed in a fierce exchange of fire. One of the slain has been identified as Umais Ahmed Wani from Kulgam, who was the commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba. His death is undoubtedly a significant blow to the Lashkar group.”
As per officials, the encounter took place after security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation following intelligence inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area.
The killing of these militants is seen as a significant success in the ongoing anti-militancy operations in south Kashmir.