Awantipora encounter: Security forces kill 2 terrorists

Security forces killed two terrorists in an hours-long exchange of fire in Awantipora town of Pulwama district on Saturday, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said.

The encounter between security forces and terrorists broke out in the morning during a cordon-and-search operation in Hari-Pari area of Tral, a police official said.

The official said a credible input about the presence of terrorists was received.

"#Awantipora #encounter update: In the exchange of fire two #terrorists have been #killed. Operation is in progress. Further details shall follow," the Kashmir zone police said on Twitter.

It also retweeted a post informing that seven hardcore overground workers of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits were arrested in a joint operation by Bandipora police, Army and CRPF.

"Arms/Ammunition recovered. They (were) involved in harbouring, providing logistics support to militants.02 FIRs registered under relevant sections of law," it added.

On Wednesday, security forces killed another terrorist in Awantipora, who was later identified by a senior police officer as a Pakistani national affiliated to the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit.

The "most wanted" terrorist was operating under code names "Abu Saifullah" and "Abu Qasim" and was active in militancy-infested south Kashmir for the past over one and a half years, the officer said.