Top Jaish-e-Mohammed Commander, 2 Terrorists Killed in Pulwama

Three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, including a top commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces.

3 JeM terrorists killed in J&K. Image used for representational purposes only.

(Photo: AP)

Three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists, including a top commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces at Kangan village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Wednesday, 3 June, officials said.

"Out of the 3 terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed who were neutralised today, one has been identified as Abdul Rehman alias Fauji Bhai, an IED expert. He belongs to Multan, Pakistan, and was active in South Kashmir since 2017. The other two are being identified," news agency ANI quoted Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir as saying.

Arms and ammunition have been recovered from the terrorists. A soldier also got injured in the gun battle, as per news agency IANS.

A joint team of army, police, and CRPF cordoned off the village on a specific intelligence input about the presence of terrorists in that area.

The gunfight began at dawn when security forces closed in on the house where the terrorists were present. The terrorists fired at the security forces, triggering the encounter.

“Our information was that Fauji Bhai, also known as Ismail, had fabricated three vehicle IEDs. We seized one of the three on 27 May but there are two more out there, possibly somewhere in Budgam and Kulgam areas,” a top counter-terror official told Hindustan Times.

A Santro car packed with explosives that was seized by security forces on 27 May. It was intercepted when it was being taken to a Jaish terrorist Sameer Ahmed Dar of Kakpora, Pulwama.

Incidentally, Sameer Ahmed Dar is a relative of Adil Dar, the suicide bomber who drove his Maruti Echo vehicle into a CRPF convoy on 14 February 2019 which killed 40 personnel.

It is the second gunfight in the area in two days. On 2 June, two JeM terrorists were killed in the Tral area of Pulwama. Police had said both slain militants were Kashmiris.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times, ANI & IANS)