Security forces shot dead two terrorists in a gunbattle in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday, police said. Earlier, four army men and a police officer were injured in the initial exchange of fire. The gun battle erupted in the wee hours at Adigam Devsar Kulgam when joint forces were carrying out a cordon and a search operation following an input about terrorists presence in the area.
Addressing a joint press conference along with the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Kashmir range, Javaid Iqbal Matoo, Commander 2 Sector RR, Brigadier Anirudh Chauhan, said that acting on a specific information early this morning, joint security forces laid a siege around the suspected spot at Arigam area of Kulgam.
“We were following the movements of this group since past one month. At 6:30 am, the terrorists tried to break the cordon but they were pushed back to enter the house,” the army officer said as “To ensure safety of the civilians, this operation took 12 hours. Two terrorists were killed in the encounter after fierce exchange of fire.
One of the slain terrorists has been identified as Umais Ahmed Wani of Kulgam, who was the commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba. His killing is obviously a big jolt for the Lashkar outfit.”He said the operation reflected synergy among the security agencies and efforts to keep the peaceful atmosphere intact.
Present on the occasion, DIG South Kashmir Javaid Iqbal Matoo said that the Lashkar commander Umais was active since 2020 and there were many FIRs registered against him. “Umais was operating in south Kashmir districts. Second terrorist was identified as Aqib Ahmed Gojri who was active since 2022,” he said. “Gojri was also involved in multiple cases.”
Replying to a query about arms and ammunition recovered from the site of encounter, he said war like stores have been recovered by the forces. “To confirm the final identity, we have taken the DNA samples of the slain terrorists as well,” he said. (KINS )