2 Lashkar Terrorists Killed In Kashmir Encounter

One of them was a Pakistani national named Tufail

Kupwara (Jammu and Kashmir): On Tuesday morning, Two terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Chaktaras Kandi area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

One of the two killed was a Pakistani national named Tufail, said the Kashmir Zone Police.

"#KupwaraEncounterUpdate: Two #terrorists of proscribed #terror outfit LeT including one #Pakistani terrorist namely Tufail killed. Search still going on: IGP Kashmir," tweeted the Kashmir Zone Police.

The encounter between the terrorists and security forces started early in the morning today.

"#Encounter has started at Chaktaras Kandi area of #Kupwara. Police and Army on job. Further details shall follow," posted Kashmir Zone Police on Twitter in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

On Monday, another Pakistani terrorist affiliated with LeT was killed during an encounter in Baramulla district.

The spate of targeted killings in the Kashmir Valley has sent alarm bells ringing. Security forces have pinned the attacks on hybrid terrorists -- operatives who are not on any terror lists but are radicalised enough to carry out a strike and then slip back into routine life.

On Thursday, an alleged hybrid terrorist took out a pistol and killed Vijay Kumar, a manager at Ellaqui Dehati Bank (EDB) in Areh Mohanpora village of Kulgam. Less than 12 hours later, two labourers were attacked in Budgam, and one of them succumbed to his injuries.

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir has taken a sudden and violent turn for the worse. Just last month, Union Minister Jitendra Singh made a statement that Jammu and Kashmir was fast returning to normal as the decades-long terrorism was on its last legs.

Srinagar was declared 'terror-free' by police in August 2020, but now there has been a swell in terror ranks, with missing local youth from the Valley posing a major security challenge.