Three terrorists, including a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, were killed and four security personnel injured after parallel clashes erupted in Jammu and Kashmir, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday , the latest in a series of gunfights that broke out. have shaken the region since the conclusion of the legislative elections.

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According to officials, a joint team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and J&K Police launched a cordon and search operation in Khanyar locality of Srinagar after receiving information about the presence of terrorists in the old city. Police came under fire while trying to enter a house, triggering the first major clash in J&K’s summer capital in two years, they added.

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“A cordon and search operation in Khanyar area of ​​Srinagar district resulted in an exchange of fire. Police and security forces are at work,” J&K Police posted on X in the morning.

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Visuals from the encounter site showed smoke billowing from a house as the forces and the hidden terrorist exchanged fire. In the evening, security officials said the commander of Pakistan-based terror group LeT, involved in the assassination of a J&K police inspector last year, was shot dead in the encounter.

“Security forces killed a terrorist identified as Usman, who was a LeT commander. He is a foreign terrorist, and his role and involvement in the murder of Inspector Masroor has been revealed. Further investigation is underway in this regard,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir VK Birdi said.

J&K Police Inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani was shot three times by a terrorist at close range at a cricket ground in Srinagar in October last year. He was initially undergoing treatment at Paras Hospital in Srinagar, but was later airlifted and transferred to the trauma ward of AIIMS in Delhi. The 34-year-old man succumbed to his injuries after 40 days.

Officials said Usman (who went by one name) had been active in the valley for several years, and his killing would be a major blow to the LeT and its offshoot, the Resistance Front (TRF).

“Usman was also the right-hand man of Sajad Gul, the Pakistan-based TRF commander,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity.

The officials added that two CRPF jawans and two members of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police were also injured during the operation. They were transferred to the military hospital, where their condition was stable. Before Saturday, the last major clash took place in Srinagar in September 2022, when two terrorists from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind group were shot dead by security forces.

As security forces battled extremists in Srinagar, a joint team of Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and J&K Police launched a search operation in Kashmir’s Anantnag district , about 80 km away, after receiving information about the presence of terrorists. in the Halkan Gali region. During the search operation, the terrorists fired on the security personnel, leading to a shootout.

“Suspicious movements near Halkan Gali were observed and challenged by vigilant troops, following which the terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on their own column. Our own troops retaliated effectively, leading to the elimination of two terrorists,” the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said in a report on X. The identities of the slain terrorists have not yet been verified.

Saturday’s shootings come against the backdrop of a series of terrorist attacks and clashes in J&K after its first elected government since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019 was sworn in on October 16. Earlier this week, security forces shot dead three terrorists after a group of extremists opened indiscriminate fire on an army ambulance in a village close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Sector ‘Akhnoor of Jammu district. On October 24, two soldiers and two civilian porters were killed after terrorists ambushed a military convoy in Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Four days ago, seven people were killed when terrorists opened fire at a construction camp in the valley’s Ganderbal district. On October 18, Ashok Chauhan, a 37-year-old migrant worker from Bihar, was shot dead by suspected terrorists in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

The attacks shattered the fragile peace maintained in J&K during the election cycle and reignited security concerns in a region that has been plagued by exchanges of fire throughout the year. J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah termed “the recent spate of attacks in Kashmir a matter of grave concern” and urged security forces to remain on alert.

On Saturday, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said the surge in extremist strikes was not due to a security lapse. “This is not a question of security breaches. Our security forces are on alert and such a situation that terrorist activities will be completely wiped out and J&K will grow at a rapid pace,” he said in Kanpur.

This year, nine personnel and 15 civilians have died in terrorist attacks in Kashmir. Security forces killed 24 terrorists in the valley during the same period. During the same period, 15 security personnel and 11 civilians died in separate attacks in Jammu. Security forces killed 10 terrorists in the area.

Meanwhile, search operations continued in Bandipora district after suspected terrorists opened fire on defense personnel and fled. “On November 1, 2024, late in the evening, a suspicious movement was spotted, in the Panar generation area of ​​Bandipora, by troops on alert. When arrested, the terrorists opened fire indiscriminately and fled into the jungle. Search operation underway,” Chinar Corps posted on X.