Kudos To Our Security Forces, 4 Terrorists Killed In Shopian; 2nd Encounter This Month In J&K

In a major counter-terrorism operation, the Indian security forces have killed four terrorists in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday. The Cordon And Search Operation (CASO) was launched by the police and the Army in Shopian on Tuesday night based on specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area.

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Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Melhora area of Shopian on Tuesday night following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said. He said the hiding militants opened fire at the security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gun battle. Four militants were killed in the operation, the official said.

While two of them were gunned down in the night the other two were killed in the early hours of Wednesday. The identity and group affiliation of the slain militants is being ascertained.

Earlier this month a total of nine Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed by the security forces in two separate operations in the Keran Sector of Kupwara and Kulgam. The gunbattle in Kulgam broke out on April 4 as police and soldiers scoured the area looking for terrorists. As troops began conducting searches, they came under heavy gunfire, leading to a fie exchange that killed four terrorists.

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The second encounter was in the Keran Sector of Kupwara along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on April 5. The heavily armed terrorists were intercepted by the Indian Army soldiers while they were trying to infiltrate from across the LoC through the Rungdori Behak area of Keran sector.

In the gun battle that followed, five terrorists and an Indian soldier were killed, while two army men who suffered injuries in this operation succumbed later in the day.

Last week Girish Chandra Murmu, the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir had said that militancy is under control in the valley but Pakistan has escalated its efforts to disturb the peace with a two-fold increase in ceasefire violations by its troops along the border.

The security situation in the Union Territory "is better" as compared to 2018, he said, adding "half of 2019 was under strict restriction. The militancy is under control. The incidents have decreased."

BCCL

Referring to the rise in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops, the lieutenant governor said "cross-border elements are desperate" to stage infiltration of terrorists into this side.

Over 3,200 ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops were recorded in 2019.