Two terrorists killed, two jawans injured in Shopian encounter

Two militants were neutralised in a joint operation by the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Kanigam area of Shopian, said the Army on December 26.

“Of the 2 terrorists eliminated today, 1st terrorist was a 22 years old resident of Kadlabal Awantipur & a Class 10 drop out, who joined terror outfit in Aug 20. 2nd terrorist, a 26 years old resident of Turkwangam Shopian, was a Class 9 drop out & joined terror outfit in Jul 20,” tweeted the official handle of Chinar Corps, Indian Army.

Earlier, Dilbag Singh, Director General of Police (DGP), Jammu and Kashmir, had said that the two terrorists were affiiated with Al-Badr. Two jawans were injured in the operation and had been hospitalised, according to the official. The encounter between security forces and terrorists started on Friday night. The operation was launched based on specific inputs from sources.

Al Badr is an Islamic militant group believed to have been formed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in June 1998. It is believed the group was encouraged by the ISI to operate independently from their previous umbrella group, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM). The terror outfit perceives Kashmir to be the ‘gateway of India’ and describes its objective as the ‘liberation’ of Muslims in the rest of India after ‘occupying’ Kashmir.