Four LeT, Hizbul men killed in encounter with troops in J&K

ANANTNAG: Four terrorists, belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, the district police said.

Acting on specific information, security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Dar Mohalla Watarigam area of Dialgam in the south Kashmir district on Sunday morning, a police spokesperson said.

He said during the search operation, the terrorists fired upon the search party of the forces.

The fire was retaliated leading to an encounter in which four terrorists were killed, the spokesman said.

He said three of the slain terrorists—district commander Muzaffar Ahmed Bhat, Omar Ameen Bhat and Sajad Ahmed Bhat—were affiliated with LeT, while Gulzar Ahmed Bhat belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen.

All of them were residents of the neighbouring Kulgam district, he added.

Two AK-47 rifles, two pistols, ammunition and other incriminating material have been recovered from the site of the encounter, the spokesman said, adding all the slain militants were involved in several terror crime cases.

Meanwhile, Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border in Poonch and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.

The firing and shelling by Pakistani Army in Kirni and Qasba sectors started around 1.45pm on Sunday and lasted for nearly one-and-a-half-hour, causing damage to some civilian structures, officials added.

There was no report of any casualty, they said. “Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arms firing and shelling with mortar along LoC in Kirni and Qasba sectors in Poonch. Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," a defence spokesman said.