Five militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in a gunfight raging since yesterday afternoon in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, police said on Friday.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bandipora, Zulfikar Azad told Greater Kashmir that the gunfight raging in Sumlar forests since yesterday afternoon has ended with the killings of five militants.
“The bodies of all five militants killed in the gunfight have been retrieved,” he said, adding that a search operation is still on at the site of the gunfight.
The identity of the slain militants is yet to be established, said Azad.
The slain militants were affiliated with LeT, said a police spokesman. “Apparently they were part of freshly infiltrated group. Huge quantity of arms, ammunition and incriminating material was recovered from the site of encounter,” he said.
Police has registered a case and investigation is going on, said the spokesman.
Army, Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police and the paramilitary CRPF had launched a cordon and search operation in the area to nab the militants, following which a gunfight broke out.
Bandipora has lately emerged as a strong bastion of LeT whose presence in the area surfaced after forces killed at least six militants including Zaki-ur-Rahman’s nephew Owaid alias Osama, and two top commanders Zargar and Mehmood, at Chandergeer village in Hajin.
In the first week of this month, three LeT militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with forces in Par Mohalla, Hajin. In March this year, a Lashkar militant was killed by forces in a gunfight in Hajin.
In all gunfights in the area since November 2017, the slain militants were seen to be affiliated with the LeT. These gunfights mainly took place in Hajin and its adjoining areas.