Terrorist linked to LeT killed in J&K’s Baramulla, 3rd op in 24 hrs in district

A terrorist – linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba – was shot dead on Sunday morning in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla, offcials said. The terrorist, Irshad Ahmad Bhat, was said to be active since May this year.

This comes a day after another terrorist was shot dead and three security personnel were wounded in the northern district of Baramulla. A sniffer dog was also killed in the operation.

This comes amid heightened security operations in the union territory to crack down on extremist elements. Amid a surge in civilian killings, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar was quoted as saying last month: “By targeting innocent civilians including women & kids, unarmed policemen & outside labourers, terrorists can’t deter our efforts to bring peace in valley. Our CT operations will continue simultaneously in all 3 regions of Kashmir specially against foreign terrorists.”

On Sunday morning, the Kashmir Zone Police tweeted: “”BaramullaEncounterUpdate: Killed #terrorist has been identified as Irshad Ahmd Bhat of Pattan, Baramulla, active since 5/2022 & linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT. 01 AK rifle, 2 magazines & 30 rounds recovered. @JmuKmrPolice.” The operation had started on Saturday evening.

In another incident from the northern district in 24 hours, two more terrorists – linked to the LeT were caught when they tried to escape. According to the police, news agency ANI reported, the terrorists were arrested after they tried to flee after seeing the joint Naka set up by Sopore police, 32 RR, and 92 CRPF personnel at around 5.30 pm in Dangiwacha.

Two pistol magazines, along with 11 live cartridges were recovered from them, officials were quoted as saying, adding they were planning to target security personnel and civilians.