Dramatic footage has emerged of the three terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Awantipora that began early Thursday morning.
In one video one of the terrorists can be seen crouched behind a concrete pillar, with what appears to be an assault rifle in his hand. In another, filmed from further away, the terrorists can be seen huddled inside what seems to a broke-down shed.
All three, who earlier sought refuge in a house, were killed after a joint op by the police and Army that began in the Tral region of Awantipora, which is a sub-district of Pulwama in south Kashmir.
This was the second encounter in Kashmir in the previous 48 hours.
READ | 3 Terrorists Killed In J&K’s Awantipora In 2nd Encounter In 48 Hours
On Tuesday (i.e., May 13), three more terrorists were killed in J&K’s Shopian.
That encounter initially began in Kulgam and then shifted to a forested area in Shopian. Security forces had intercepted the terrorists following confidential information.
There were reports of a fourth terrorist, but that has not been confirmed yet.
READ | 3 Terrorists Killed In Encounter In Jammu And Kashmir’s Shopian
These encounters follow increased scrutiny and tracking of terrorists’ movements after the Pahalgam terror attack in April, in which 26 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front, a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Indian government identified four-five terrorists who took part in the attack.
A manhunt to track them down is ongoing.
India responded attack first with a raft of non-military measures, including suspension of some Pak visas and the Indus Waters Treaty, which divides waters of the Indus river system between the two countries and supplies Pak farms with nearly 80 per cent of its irrigation needs.
Then, early on May 7, 15 days after the attack, India unleashed Operation Sindoor, a series of precision air strikes targeting nine terror camps, including four in Pakistan, one of which was the HQ and training base of the Lashkar, a group linked to earlier terror attacks on India.
Pakistan responded with attempted military strikes of its own – a barrage of drones and missiles – but these were efficiently intercepted by India’s air defence system.
READ | How Indian Defences Protected Nation, Shot Down Pak Missiles
Eventually, after four successive nights of drone and missile attacks by Pak and counterstrikes by India, the two sides agreed on a ceasefire facilitated by the United States.
READ | Op Sindoor Is India’s New Normal: PM Modi’s Sharp Message To Pak
In his address to the nation this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Operation Sindoor had carved out a new benchmark in India’s fight against terrorism and set up a “new normal”.
