Dreaded terrorist killed in 12-hour-long Kashmir encounter found to be Pakistani; LeT link found [details]

In a 12-hour-long gun battle, the security forces on Friday eliminated a dreaded Pakistani terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.

Two terrorists had taken shelter in a nearby building after attacking the BSF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar national highway at Meerpora's Mir Bazaar in Kulgam district on Thursday evening.

"After a long time, the foreign terrorists used Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) to attack security forces," Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar said and added that besides AK 47 rifle, rocket launcher and grenades (cells) were recovered from the site of the encounter. A major incident was averted."

The IGP said that a foreign terrorist was killed in the Kulgam encounter while the second one managed to flee. The killed terrorist had taken shelter in a nearby building after attacking the BSF convoy.

"Intermittent firing continued throughout the night and in the wee hours, and one foreign terrorist identified as Usman-affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit was killed in the fierce gun-battle," the IGP informed.

Rocket launched used to eliminate terrorists

Security forces used rocket launchers and drones to target terrorists who were hiding in the building. According to reports, the decision to use rocket launchers was taken as the building was huge and was of a concrete structure. Drones were used to keep updating situation inside the building.

"During this process, two drones were destroyed by the terrorists. All precautions were followed to minimize the collateral damages", reports said. 22 civilians including shopkeepers, elderly, women, and children were also evacuated to safety by the security forces, police said.

Usman was a close associate of Pulwama mastermind Lamboo

Usman, the terrorist killed in the Kulgam encounter, is a Pakistani and a close associate of top JeM commander Lamboo who was recently killed in an encounter. It confirms Pakistan's involvement in the attack on the BSF convoy, the IGP said.

He further added that Usman was a dreaded terrorist and was planning a big strike on security forces ahead of Independence Day, especially on the national highway.

In a 'biggest success of the year, 2021' security forces on July 31 had killed the mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack Abu Saifullah alias 'Lamboo', a self-styled commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit, in a brief encounter in South Kashmir's Dachigarm forest area. Lamboo was the nephew of the chief of JeM, Masood Azhar, who was designated as a global terrorist was the United Nations in May 2019.

Terrorists were trapped after attacking BSF convey

Since Thursday evening security forces had trapped two terrorists in a building in the Mir Bazar area of South Kashmir's Kulgam district after they attacked a BSF convoy in the area. After attacking the BSF convey, the terrorists fired indiscriminately on security forces in which one CRPF personnel and two civilians were injured on Thursday evening.

Reinforcements of the Army and Police were sent to the spot, the area was cordoned off and terrorists were trapped in a nearby building. In the wake of the encounter, traffic has been halted on the national highway and diverted through other routes.

Terrorists planning to attack highway

IGP revealed that security forces had already received input about the possible terror attack on highways including Qazigund to Pantha Chowk.

"It was due to the alertness that terrorists after attacking the BSF convoy were zeroed in forcing them to take shelter in a nearby building," the IGP said.

He said terrorists were desperately trying to attack in Kashmir Valley ahead of 15 August to instill fear among the people to prevent them from participating in the Independence Day functions.