Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Aug 30: Security forces achieved a major success in Kashmir today by eliminating 5 militants of Hizbul Mujahideen including their top commander in Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) counter insurgency Victor Force, Major General R R Nimborkar today told a press conference at 24 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion Headquarters at Wusan Kangan in district Ganderbal that the troops of 3 sector RR and Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a joint operation at Palang area of Najawan Forest of Kangan on the basis of specific information about the presence of a group of militants in the area.
The GOC said that contact with the militants was established at 1:30 a.m.”On being challenged by the troops, they fired back. A heavy firefight ensued, lasting for over two hours. Despite difficult terrain and poor visibility conditions, accurate fire was brought down leading to the killing of five militants of Hizbul Mujahideen. The operation was surgically conducted without any collateral damage or casualty to own forces”, he said.
Five AK-47 Rifles, 11 magazines, seven grenades and war like stores were recovered at the site of encounter.
Nimborkar said that these militants were mostly avoiding populated areas and preferring to live in forest areas. “We had inputs that militants want to change their hide out from Sindh range forests to Mansbal range for which they had started moving from Najawan forests in Kangan area to cross other side of the Srinagar-Leh highway. We trapped them near a bridge over Nallah and killed five militants including their commander Asadullah Bhia”, he added.
The GOC said that Army had already cautioned that Amarnath yatra was on the target of militants and the area where these militants were moving since last one year is close to Srinagar-Leh highway through where yatra is passing to reach Baltal the Amarnath base camp.
The General said that due to the alertness of the security forces in the area militants failed to carry out any attack on the Yatra, security forces or civilians as they had plans to kill two to three civilians besides attacking the Yatra.
The dead Hizbul Mujahideen militants were identified as District Commander Asadullah Qari, Zubair, Javied, Fazal and Umar.
Sources said that these militants had infiltrated into Kashmir valley through Gurez sector early last year and four of them were killed last year in an operation in the Kangan forests. However, six of them including former body guard of Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahudin, Shakeel Ahmad Kasana escaped from the cordon.
However, Kasana was arrested last year and was booked under Public Safety Act (PSA). In July this year, he was killed in a grenade attack on a police vehicle in which he was being shifted to Baramulla.
Qari Assadullah and his group was most wanted in the Ganderbal area and security forces were after them for last one and a half year.
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