J-K: JeM commander, 5 terrorists associated with LeT eliminated in two separate encounters

Five terrorists including JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani and a Pakistani terrorist were killed in two encounters in the last 12 hours, said IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar on Sunday.

Five terrorists of the active militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), including a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander, were killed in two separate encounters by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, the police said.

Kashmir’s Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said that top JeM commander Zahid Wani and a Pakistani terrorist were among those militants killed by security forces in the last 12 hours.

Four out of the five were killed in the Naira area of Pulwama district while the remaining one (Pakistani terrorist) was killed in the Chrar-i-Sharief area of Budgam.

Zahid Wani was involved in the Letpura IED incident in which more then 40 CRPF cadres had died on 14 February 2019.

Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition, including an AK 56 rifle, were recovered from the site, Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.

IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar has termed the encounters as a major success for the police.

The encounter in the Pulwama area began at around 8 pm on Saturday while the Budgam operation started late in the night on Saturday. This is the second such operation in the last 15 days.

In the last month, 22 terrorists have been killed during more than a dozen encounters in the Valley.

Last Saturday (January 22), a militant was gunned down by security forces during an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian region.

In the week before that, a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist and a policeman were killed during an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.

This is for the first time that the number of active militants in the Valley fell below the 200-mark since insurgency erupted in Kashmir in 1990.