First south Kashmir encounter since August 5, two militants killed

“We have killed two militants. A civilian was also injured,” a police officer said.

Police have identified the slain militants as Ufaid Farooq Lone (21) alias Abu Muslim and Abass Ahmad Bhat of LeT. While Lone, a resident of Awantipora, had joined militant ranks in July last year and was classified as category ‘C’ militant, Abass, a resident of Kawani village of Awantipora, was a recent recruit. Police have identified the injured civilian as Sabzar Bhat.

In the last two months, there have been four encounters between militants and security forces in Kashmir — one in south Kashmir (Tuesday), two in north Kashmir and one an ongoing gunfight in the upper reaches of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal. The total number of militants killed in the operations since August 5 is six, the lowest in a two-month period since the 2016 unrest.

An anti-militancy operation in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district is going on for the last 12 days. On September 27, Army killed a militant during the operation in the mountainous terrain of Gangabal while another militant was killed three days later. On Monday, Army airdropped paratroopers in the area. The slain militants are believed to be part of a group which is believed to have recently infiltrated into the Valley from Gurez sector.