Srinagar: Three Lashkar-Taiba terrorists and a civilian were killed on Saturday during a fierce gunfight and subsequent clashes in Chattabal area here.
A senior CRPF official said that all the three holed up terrorists were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Chattabal area’s Gasi Mohalla locality.
Sources in the police said that of the three neutralised terrorists, two were Pakistanis and the other one was a local. They were associated with Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT, said sources.
However, later two of the three terrorists were identified and were from the Kashmir valley.
One of the them was identified as Showkat Ahmad Tak. He was from Panzgam village of Pulwama district.
The police official said that Tak was a commander of the LeT and was active for nearly eight years. He was a close associate of slain LeT commander Abu Dujana, Abu Qasim and Abu Rehman, the police official said.
Earlier Police had said only one of the neutralised terrorist was Fayaz Ahmad Hammal, a local while the other two were Pakistan.
The police are yet to establish the identity of the third terrorist killed in the encounter and he was a Pakistani national, said an official.
A police official said that the security forces, including the police and the CRPF surrounded the area following a tip-off about the presence of some terrorists in the area.
“As the cordon was laid and a search operation launched, the hiding terrorists resorted to indicriminate firing to break the security cordon and escape but in the ensuing fierce encounter that lasted for around eight hours, the hiding terrorists were killed” said the police official.
He said that three CRPF personnel including two officers and a jawan were injured in the encounter and were being treated in a hospital where their condition is stated to be stable and out of danger.
A large quantity of arms and ammunition including three AK-47 rifles, magazines, UBGL grenades, wire cutter, medical kit and matrix sheets were recovered from the encounter site.
On the other hand to thwart the counter-terrorism operation, the locals as usual started pelting stones at the security forces.
One of the stone pelter, identified as Adil Ahmed Yadoo was killed when he was accidentally hit by a security vehicle during clashes in Safa Kadal.
Schools and colleges suspended class work as tension spread in the city. Also the markets and other business shut down in the area.
Authorities have suspended mobile Internet services in Srinagar district and also brought down the speed of fixed line broadband connections.
Meanwhile, terrorists killed two civilians on Saturday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora district, police said.
Ghulam Hassan and his nephew, Bashir Ahmed were abducted from Shahgund village of Hajin area on Friday night.
“The bullet ridden bodies of the victims were found near a mosque in Shahgund village on Saturday morning,” police sources said.
Similarly, on Friday also terrorists shot dead a civilian and injured his wife in north Kashmir’s Sopore town.
According to reports, terrorists fired at Muhammad Ashraf in Bomai area of Sopore. He was shifted to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Mir’s wife was also injured in the said attack by the terrorists, said the police.