Srinagar: An Army soldier was killed in a gunbattle with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag on Tuesday. Two terrorists were also shot dead in the encounter – one of them has been identified as Sajjad Maqbool Bhat, who arranged the explosive-laden vehicle used in the suicide bombing of a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February, and the other was Tawseef Bhat, the handler of the suicide bomber, sources said.
The police said one more terrorist is believed to be still hiding inside a building in the area. All of them are suspected to terrorists of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
The security forces launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs that some terrorists could be in the area. The operation soon turned into an encounter after the terrorists opened fired at the forces. The operation is going on.
The encounter comes a day after an Army vehicle was targeted with an improvised explosive device in Pulwama, where a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was attacked by a suicide bomber of the JeM in February. Two soldiers were killed and 18 were injured.
On Monday, an Army Major was killed and three soldiers were injured in another encounter with terrorists in Anantnag. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army chief General Bipin Rawat will pay tribute to Major Ketan Sharma, who died in the encounter in Anantnag on Monday.
The security forces have lost 10 men in five days in anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir with the death of the Army soldier in Anantnag on Tuesday.
An attack on the CRPF last week that killed six policemen happened amid the state administration preparing for the annual Amarnath Yatra that would begin next month. The 46-day pilgrimage is scheduled to start from two routes, one of which passes from Anantnag.
