Five terrorists were killed overnight by security forces in the Budgam and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Sunday, 30 January.
The terrorists were affiliated to Pakistan-based terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
JeM commander in the area, Zahid Mansoor Wani, has been neutralised, Major General Prashant Srivastava has said.
Wani was one of the masterminds behind various IED attacks since 2017. He was also actively involved in recruitment of young boys into the terror outfit.
"We were looking for JeM commander Zahid Wani for a long time. On receiving inputs yesterday, we launched a search operation followed by an encounter in which Wani & three others including Pakistani terrorist Kafil were neutralized, in Pulwama," said DGP Dilbag Singh to ANI.
Kashmir Zone Police informed on Saturday evening that four terrorists were killed in the encounter between terrorists and security forces in the Naira area of Pulwama.
A terrorist affiliated to LeT was killed in a separate encounter that broke out in the Charar-i-Sharief area of central Kashmir's Budgam district on Saturday.
Arms and ammunitions have been recovered from neutralised terrorists in the encounter.
A total of 21 terrorists, including eight from Pakistan, have been killed in 11 encounters so far this month.
On Friday, Ganderbal Police along with the teams of 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 115 Battalion of CRPF arrested three terrorists, allegedly affiliated with LeT and the Resistance Front (TRF), read a statement by the Indian Army on Saturday.
On 29 January, a police officer was shot dead by terrorists near his residence at Hasanpora in Bijbehara locality of Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir. The deceased cop was identified as head constable Ali Mohammad.
"I strongly condemn the brutal killing of our J&K Police HC Ali Mohammad in Anantnag district by terrorists. His supreme sacrifice won't go in vain. The perpetrators of this barbaric act will be punished soon. My deepest condolences to the family of martyr," J&K L-G Manoj Sinha tweeted after the incident.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)