Srinagar: The daylong gunfight in Srinagar ended with the killing of a militant and injury to four security forces personnel, a Jammu and Kashmir Police official said.
Kashmir Inspector General of Police confirmed that one terrorist was killed and two each police and Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) personnel were wounded. He identified the slain as Osman alias Chota Waleed, a most wanted Pakistani terrorist commander, saying "he was involved in the killing of inspector Masroor Ahmed Wani in November 2023".
"Further details about his involvement in terror activities will come to light after a detailed investigation regarding the same will be completed. Two personnel of CRPF and two of J&K police too received minor injuries during the operation," he added. The injured received splinter injuries after the holed-up militant lobbed a grenade from the residential house towards the security forces, an official said.
The official said that the body has been retrieved and sent for medicolegal formalities to Srinagar's Police Control Room. Osman was affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba, which is masking the identity in the face of Pakistan's global scrutiny over its support to terrorism. The outfit has been blamed for targeting non-local migrant workers in the Valley.
As the encounter was in its last leg, large plumes of smoke billowed out in the air as the residential house caught fire, suffering extensive damages. The site is off the bound for people as sanitisation exercise in the area was underway to avoid any mishap in the face of any unexploded shell. The day saw bouts of gunfire and blasts rattling the area with shops shut and vehicular traffic diverted through alternative routes.
The gunfight broke out early in the morning after security forces on a tip-off about the presence of militants carried out searches in Khanyar in Srinagar’s downtown. The holed-up militant opened fire, spurring a gunfight.
The residential house where the militant was trapped, according to an official source, belongs to the brother of a slain Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber. The young class 12 student Afaaq Shah from Khanyar blew Maruti 800 car at Badami Bagh cantonment in Srinagar in 2000 to become the first local suicide bomber in Kashmir’s three-decades-long insurgency.
The attack in the heart of Srinagar is significant as it comes two days before the first session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and hours after two non-local workers were attacked by militants in Budgam.
An official at the site of the encounter said that the gunfight went on for several hours as they ensured to minimise the collateral damage. The area is also challenging with multiple narrow lanes leading to the encounter site and the congested neighbourhood.
The Srinagar encounter was followed by a brief shootout in Anantnag’s forested Shangus Larnoo Kachwan area, taking out two militants. In north Kashmir’s Bandipora, the exchange of firing between security forces and militants triggered an encounter.
A spate of terror attacks have occurred in Kashmir since October with the last month witnessing seven attacks killing 18 people including 10 civilians, two security personnel and six militants. This includes a deadly terror attack on the Z Morh tunnel killing seven civilians including a local doctor and non-migrant workers of a Uttar Pradesh-based civil construction company.
Encounter in Srinagar after a gap of two and a half years
The Srinagar gunfight marked the first in the last more than two years, indicating the militants are trying to mark their presence felt in the capital city. The last major gunfight occurred in Srinagar's Bishamber Nagar area on April 10, 2022. The encounter signals a renewed intensity in Srinagar, which has seen a lull in clashes since April 2022.
According to Jammu and Kashmir police data, the last major gunfight in Srinagar took place on April 10, 2022, when two militants were killed in the Bishambar Nagar area. According to the police, the militants, identified as Muhammad Bhai alias Abu Qasim, also known as Mir Shoaib or Mudassir, and Abu Arsalan alias Khalid alias Aadil, were believed to be part of high-profile militant networks.
Another encounter took place in early January 2022 in the Shalimar area in which two militants -- Muhammad Salim Parrey from Hajin Bandipora and Hafiz, a Pakistani national -- were killed.
According to the data, Srinagar witnessed a few smaller-scale militant attacks but not any major encounter. On January 22, 2023, a grenade attack in the Eidgah area injured a civilian, Ajaz Rashid Deva. On September 18, 2023, militants fired upon a CRPF vehicle escorting a BJP leader in Khanyar, though no injuries were reported. Later that year, on October 29, Inspector Masroor Ahmed Wani was shot fatally while playing cricket in Eidgah, succumbing to his injuries in December.
More recently, on February 7, 2024, militants targeted and killed two non-local civilians from Punjab, Amritpal Singh and Rohit Mashi, in Srinagar’s Shaheed Gunj area. On April 11, 2024, a local militant, Danish Aijaz Sheikh from Illahi Bagh, was killed in an encounter in Frasipora village in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, illustrating the shifting terrain of militant activity in the region.
Search Operation In Bandipora
Earlier in the day, in a post on X, the Indian Army on Saturday said that terrorists opened fire on security personnel and escaped into the jungle. "On 01 November 2024 late evening, suspicious movement was spotted, in gen area Panar of Bandipora, by alert troops. On being challenged, terrorists opened indiscriminate fire and escaped into the jungle. Search Operation underway," Chinar Corps, Indian Army posted on X.
The encounters come a day after two non-local labourers were attacked allegedly by militants in central Kashmir's Budgam district. The labourers were grievously injured in the attack and were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Recently, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired a security review meeting and directed the security forces to nab the attackers and prevent such attacks.
Last week, three terrorists were killed in the Akhnoor area of Jammu in a 27-hour-long gunfight near the Line of Control (LoC) after militants attacked an army convoy.
