Srinagar, October 12
Two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, including a senior Pakistani commander involved in several recent attacks on security forces, were killed Monday in a meeting with security forces in the Old Barzulla area here, police said. .
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Old Barzulla area of the city here in the early hours of Monday morning after receiving specific information on the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.
He said that around 7:45 am, when the searches were being carried out, the militants fired at the forces.
The forces retaliated after an encounter, the official said.
Two militants were killed in the shooting, the official said.
Police Director General (DGP) Dilbag Singh said one of the two killed militants was a Pakistani and a senior LeT commander named Saifullah, who was involved in several recent attacks on security forces in and around Srinagar.
“A senior Lashkar commander from Pakistan named Saifullah has been killed in the operation. He was involved in three major consecutive attacks against the security forces in Nowgam, Chadoora and Kandizaal here, ”Singh told reporters at a press conference in the police control room here.
The DGP said that this year so far this year, the city of Srinagar has witnessed eight encounters in which 18 militants have died.
“In total, 75 antimilitan operations have been successfully carried out so far this year in which 180 terrorists have been killed. In addition, 138 militants and their associates have been arrested this year. In terms of operational achievements, it’s kind of a record compared to last year. The number of deaths and arrests is more this year than last year, ”he said.
The UT police chief said that all anti-militancy operations carried out this year were clean and professionally carried out.
“Except for one operation in Batamaloo Srinagar, in which, sadly, a woman was killed in a crossfire, all operations were conducted cleanly by the security forces,” he said.
When asked about the number of deaths by security forces, Singh said that this year, 19 Jammu and Kashmir policemen lost their lives, while 21 members of CRPF and 15 army soldiers, most of them in the LdC, died in UT.
Asked whether Lashkar and other teams were trying to set foot back in Srinagar city, DGP said that the security forces were able to take over the militants thanks to an effective intelligence network.
“Lashkar and everyone is trying to find their foothold in the city, but our int (intelligence) network is quite good and quite effective and it is thanks to this effective int network that our troops have been able to find and take care of them,” he said.
He said that currently only one militant was active in the city and so far he has been involved in a couple of attacks on security forces.
“We are looking for him and we will bring him to justice very soon,” said DGP.
When asked about the number of youth who have left the militancy so far in the valley, Singh said that 26 youth, who had joined the militancy, were brought back with the help of their parents and the hard work of the policeman.
To another question about a surrender policy for such young people and whether the police were sending them out of JK, the DGP said there was no official policy yet.
“No young man has been sent out of the UT. Officially, there is still no policy, ”he said. PTI
