Seven militants killed as three gunfights rattle Kashmir

IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar says that militants cannot impede attempts of J&K Police to bring peace to the Valley

Seven militants were killed in three separate gun battles between government forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara, Kulgam and Pulwama districts within the last 24 hours, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

According to a spokesperson of J&K Police, government forces killed six militants, including foreigners, in two separate ‘operations’ in Kashmir Valley’s Kupwara and Kulgam districts.

Kupwara Gunfight

According to the spokesman, Kupwara Police and Indian Army’s 28RR conducted a coordinated anti-militant operation on Sunday following the disclosure of an arrested militant Showkat Ahmad Sheikh about a hideout in the jungles of Kupwara’s Chandigam Lolab district.

He said that while searching for the hideout, the sheltering militants began shooting indiscriminately at the combined search team, which was retaliated.

“A militant was killed in the early exchange of fire, and the captured militant leading the search group was also trapped in the hideout. However, four militants (including Sheikh) were slain in the subsequent battle,” the police spokesman stated.

Kulgam Gunfight

In the Kulgam firefight, the police spokesman stated that J&K Police and Indian Army’s 9RR initiated a combined cordon and search operation in the area after receiving specific information from the local police about the presence of militants in DH Pora Kulgam.

“As the combined search squad neared the probable location, the hidden militants opened fire on the search party indiscriminately, prompting a retaliation, resulting in a firefight,” he claimed.

The official stated, “Later on, the CRPF joined the operation as well.” He added that two local militants were slain in the ensuing battle, who were identified as Haris Sharief from Srinagar and Zakir Padder from Kulgam.

According to police records, the slain militant Haris Sharief was related to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) while Zakir Padder was linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and both were designated “categorised militants”.

As per the authorities, the two were members of groups involved in a number of crimes, including attacks on police, security personnel, and civilians.

Pulwama Gunfight

On Monday, a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant was killed in a nighttime shootout in the Chatapora locality of Pulwama district in south Kashmir.

According to a senior police official, a joint team of J&K Police and the Indian Army conducted a cordon and search operation in the Chatapora area last night.

As the unified team of soldiers approached the suspected location, the militants hiding in the area opened fire, resulting in a firefight in which a LeT militant from north Kashmir was killed.

Militants won’t deter us in peace efforts: IGP Kashmir

Meanwhile, Vijay Kumar, the Inspector-General of J&K Police for Kashmir Zone, has said that militants will not be able to deter efforts to bring peace to the Valley.

The IGP was quoted by Kashmir Zone Police as having said that militants cannot impede attempts of J&K Police to bring peace to the Valley.

He said that anti-militancy operations will continue across the Valley of Kashmir, particularly against foreign militants.

114 militants have been slain so far this year

Mr Kumar also stated that 114 militants had been killed in the valley this year.

There are 32 foreign militants among the total militants slain this year. According to the senior officer, there were just 21 foreign militants slain last year.

It’s worth noting that 24 militants have been killed in separate gunfights in the last 10 days.

68 gunfights erupted in first half of 2022

Kashmir has seen 68 gunfights between militants and combined forces this year.

Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, and Anantnag were among the four districts in south Kashmir where gunfights raged. 13 gunfights erupted in central Kashmir, while 12 gunfights erupted in north Kashmir.

According to statistics obtained by Digpu News, Pulwama district had the most gunfights with 14, followed by 11 each in Shopian and Kulgam, Srinagar 10, Anantnag and Kupwara 7, Baramulla 3, Budgam and Bandipora 2 each, and Ganderbal witnessed a single firefight in the current year.

Ganderbal in central Kashmir is the most peaceful district if these statistics are to be considered, with only one militancy incident reported here in March, when a militant Adil Ahad Khan of Badarkund Ganderbal was killed in the area.