Three LeT militants killed in J-K encounter

Srinagar: Three Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation at Vailoo in Komernag area of the district early on Tuesday following information about presence of militants there, a police official said.

“During the search operation, as the presence of terrorists got ascertained they were given an opportunity to surrender. However, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was retaliated leading to an encounter,” the official said.

He said the joint teams of security forces also rescued all the civilians trapped in the gunfire and halted the operation for the time to ensure safe evacuation of people from the area of gunfight.

“After ensuring all civilians are safe, the operation was resumed and all the terrorists were eliminated in the ensuing encounter. Bodies of the killed terrorists were retrieved from the site of encounter,” the official said.

The slain militants were identified as Ilyas Ahmad Dar alias Sameer, Ubaid Shafi alias Abdullah and Aqib Ahmad Lone alias Sahil.

“As per police records, all the killed terrorists were linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT and part of the groups involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on security forces and security establishments,” he added.