11 terrorists have been killed in eight encounters in the last week, the police said (Representational)

Srinagar:

Two terrorists, allegedly involved in the recent targeted killings of a civilian and a police officer, have been killed in back-to-back encounters in Srinagar by the security forces, the police said.

Anti-terrorist operations were launched in Srinagar and Pulwama within a span of three hours in which two terrorists were gunned down, a police spokesman said.

“Based on specific inputs regarding the presence of terrorists, two anti-terrorist operations were carried out in Pulwama and Srinagar resulting in the elimination of two terrorists of proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba – The Resistance Front (TRF) – involved in recent killings of a civilian and a sub-inspector in Srinagar,” the police said.

The first operation was launched in the Wahibug area of Pulwama by the Army, the police, and the CRPF.

“The terrorist hiding in the village was given an opportunity to surrender. He instead opened fire on the security forces. In the ensuing encounter, one terrorist identified as Shahid Bashir Sheikh was killed,” the police said.

According to the police, the killed terrorist was involved in the killing of Mohammad Shafi Dar in Srinagar’s Batamaloo on October 2. He was also responsible for creating terror among the locals by threatening, intimidating, and killing civilians.

In the second operation in Srinagar’s Hamdaniya Colony Bemina area, an operation was launched by the Srinagar Police.

“In the ensuing encounter, one terrorist identified as Tanzeel Ahmad was killed and his body was retrieved from the site of encounter.”

“As per police records, he had joined the terror folds recently and was linked with the proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba – The Resistance Front (TRF). He was involved in the killing of police sub-inspector Arshid Ashraf in Srinagar’s Khanyar area on September 12,” the police said.

Arms and ammunition, including two AK-47 rifles, have been recovered from the site of the encounters, the police said.

According to Kashmir’s Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar, 11 terrorists have been killed in eight encounters in the last week.

The Kashmir valley has seen a sudden spurt in attacks by terrorists, mostly against the minorities, in recent weeks. Seven people have been killed in terror attacks in Kashmir between October 2 and October 8.