2 Al-Badr terrorists killed in J&K encounter

SRINAGAR: Security forces in Kashmir on Monday shot dead two Al-Badr terrorists who had refused to surrender after being cornered during a cordon-and-search operation in Srinagar's Khonmoh neighbourhood, IGP Vijay Kumar said. Khonmoh is said to be part of a highly active terrorist corridor linked to Khrew and Tral in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.
Besides the Al-Badr duo killed in the encounter — Wasim Bashir Pandit of Kakapora and Mudasir Ahmad Khanday of Bargam Awantipora — security forces had been tracking five other terrorists suspected to be moving about in Srinagar district.Another terrorist who had made Srinagar his base died in a gunfight with a joint team of the police, Army and CRPF at Kokernag in adjoining Anantnag district recently.
"There is a vast network of overground workers in the district, of which many have either been arrested under the Public Safety Act or counselled and handed over to their families," the IGP said. "Inputs about the movement of foreign terrorists continue to pour in but, as of now, no such threat is seen."
Kumar said the increased use of improvised explosive devices was still a challenge in the battle against terrorist outfits, but security forces were getting the hang of it. "We recently seized 10kg of explosives used to make IEDs in Shopian, followed by another seizure involving the Army. We are effectively dealing with the threat through timely detections."