Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Oct 4: Security forces achieved a major success today by killing commander in chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Adil Pathan, and his associate in a gun battle in Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district this evening.
Army and Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police (SOG) cordoned off Harriparigam village of Tral this evening after they received specific information about presence of two militants of JeM including its chief commander, Adil Pathan.
The militants when trapped opened fire on the troops leading to a gun battle in which one Army personnel was injured. Police and army fired back killing both the militants, Adil Pathan and Chota Burmee. They were both from Pakistan and were operating in the area.
Adil Pathan who was earlier operating in North Kashmir’s Lolab area shifted his base to Tral one and a half years ago. He was trying to recruit militants and strengthen JeM in Kashmir valley.
Pathan was given the charge of the outfit in July 2013 after the then JeM chief, Qari Yasir, was killed by troops. He had infiltrated into Kashmir in 2012.
Two AK-47 riffles, one grenade, four magazines and 80 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the encounter site. The cell phones of the two militants were also recovered and they have been sent for data analysis.
The bodies of the two militants were taken to Awantipora for postmortem. People gathered outside Awantipora Police Station and pelted stones at it. Police fired tear smoke to disperse them. The traffic on the National Highway remained disrupted for about two hours due to trouble in Awantipora town which is on highway.
A police spokesman said that two foreign militants of JeM outfit were killed in an encounter with police and security forces in Tral area of Pulwama district.
“Acting on a specific information about the presence of militants in Harriparigam, Tral area, Police along with 42-RR and 3-RR cordoned off the area and launched the search operation. The hiding militants opened fire on the joint search party, triggering an encounter”, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said that the encounter ended with the elimination of two foreign militants identified as Aadil Pathan and Chota Burmi of Jaish Mohammad (JeM) outfit.
Police said that the duo was involved in the kidnapping of two persons from Peernard village in 2014. The slain militants were involved in many unlawful activities acted on the direction of Pak based commanders.
They were instrumental in recruiting and motivating local youth to join militancy, beside were coordinating between HM and JeM created after the death of one of the cadres of Jaish in 2014.
The duo had also tried to create impediments in last year elections and were also involved in planning attack on minority pickets. They were instrumental in creating an air of fear among the local Panchs.
A Defence spokesman said that security forces today gunned down two foreign militants of JeM in a surgical operation in Tral area of Awantipora. One Army soldier was injured during the operation.
The spokesman said: “Based on specific intelligence about the presence of some terrorists in village Kaigam, Pulwama district, a joint operation was launched by the Army and JKP today afternoon. As the cordon was being tightened around the suspected area where the terrorists were hiding, the terrorists opened a heavy volume of indiscriminate fire following which an intense exchange of fire ensued.”
“The encounter which lasted till about 6 pm today resulted in the elimination of two JeM terrorists identified as Adil Pathan and Burmee. The operation has also led to the recovery of two AK47 rifles and other war like stores from the slain terrorists. One Army soldier who sustained a gun shot wound was immediately evacuated and his condition is reported to be stable”, the spokesman said.
In the meantime, Army has launched a massive operation in Tilpathri area of Hafrooda forests of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district this afternoon after they found movement of 5-6 militants in the forests.
The Army fired at the militant group who returned the fire leading to a brief gun battle but militants managed to flee the cordoned area towards a Nalla. The Army followed them and trapped them again after half an hour leading to another brief gunbattle and they again escaped. The Army has strengthened the cordon and more troops were sent to the area to take on the militant group.
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