Jammu and Kashmir:Fifty terrorists, including several top commanders of Jaish-e-Mohmmad (JeM) and Lashker-e-Tioba (LeT), were killed in counter terrorism operations by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year so far, officials said on Friday.
Seventeen security forces personnel lost their lives while fighting the terrorists in the Union Territory, they said.
The militants also killed nine civilians in the last four months, the officials said.
Giving details, a senior official told reporters that the slain terrorists included top commanders of JeM, LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen.
He said of the 50 terrorists killed so far this year, 18 were eliminated during the ongoing lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Four terrorists, including district commander of LeT Muzaffar Ahmed Bhat, were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Dialgam area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir on March 15, the official said, adding they belonged to LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen outfits
On January 25, three terrorists, including JeM self-styled Kashmir chief Qari Yasir, were killed while three soldiers were injured in an encounter between security forces and ultras in the Tral area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district, he said.
On January 23, another top militant commander Abu Saifullah alias Abu Qasim, an associate of Yasir, was killed in the Khrew area of Pulwama district, the official said.