Killing of 6 terrorists major setback for Hizb: Army

Srinagar, July 8: Stating that terrorist organisations were without leaders now, the Army on Monday said that the killing of six terrorists in two separate encounters in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district is a major setback to the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terror outfit.

This was stated in a joint press conference by Commander 1 Sector RR Brigadier Prithviraj Chauhan and Commander 2 Sector RR Brigadier Anruddh Chauhan, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Kashmir Range (SKR) Javid Iqbal Matoo, CO 9 RR Kumar Varun, and SP Kulgam.

Brigadier Chauhan said that the operations in south Kashmir dealt a substantial blow to the terror group.

“In the Chinigham operation, our soldier Prabhakar Praveen made the supreme sacrifice for the nation,” he said. “We had been monitoring movements in this area for several days with the help of all agencies and Army surveillance devices. On July 6, we received information about terrorist movements in the Chinigham area. Around 4 pm, one of our soldiers noted the movement. When we challenged them, they started firing, and our parties responded fully, during which one of our soldiers was martyred.”

Brigadier Chauhan highlighted the efforts to prevent collateral damage, saying, “After concluding the operation, we found and promptly destroyed an IED weighing approximately 6 kg. The killing of four terrorists in this operation, and a total of six in south Kashmir, is a significant blow to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.”

Brigadier Anruddh Chauhan of 2 Sector RR termed the operations as milestones and said the killing had left terrorist organisations without leaders, marking a crucial blow to their operations.

“It is a major setback for terror outfits,” he said.

DIG SKR, Javed Iqbal Matoo provided further details on the encounters and said that in two joint operations conducted from July 6 to 7, six terrorists were killed.

“Adil, who had multiple FIRs against him in different police stations, was killed in one operation. The second encounter took place in the Chinigham area which resulted in the killing of four terrorists. Among them was Yavar Bashir Dar, a ‘Category A’ terrorist. The others were identified as Tauheed Ahmad, Shakeel Ahmad Wani, and Zahir Ahmad Dar. A significant cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the encounter site. Both locations had hideouts that the terrorists had been using for a considerable time.”

In the two anti-terror operations, six terrorists and two soldiers identified as L N K Pardeep Kumar and Sep Pravin Janjal Prabhakar were killed.

The gunfights broke out on Saturday afternoon after J&K Police, Army, and CRPF cordoned off these areas to trace the terrorists.

Soon after the searches began, the terrorists opened fire, triggering encounters.

The gunfight continued till night.

However, amid the tight cordon, the operations were suspended and resumed on Sunday morning.

The bodies of four terrorists killed in Frisal Chinnigam were retrieved on Sunday morning and in Mudergham two more bodies of terrorists were recovered from the debris the same day.

This is one of the biggest anti-terrorist operations in the current year in J&K in which six terrorists were killed.

TERRORIST BUNKER HIDDEN BEHIND CUPBOARD IN KULGAM

Security forces discovered a meticulously constructed terrorist hideout within a civilian residence in Kulgam district.

The bunker, cleverly concealed inside a cupboard, had been reportedly housing four terrorists who were killed in an encounter on Saturday night.

Authorities are now looking into the possibility of local involvement in providing shelter to the terrorists.

A video circulating online shows security officials inspecting the small, well-fortified concrete hideout hidden behind a wardrobe in the house.