New Delhi: Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, who was killed by security forces in an encounter in Tral area of Srinagar, on Saturday, was on the radar of intelligence agencies for the last few days.
After Bhat's encounter, Internet services were shut down in the valley as a security measure. Clashes broke out between civilians and the police in Anantnag, Budgam, Ganderbal and Pulwama. One person has been killed and around two dozen injured in the melee.
Sources told News18.com that the Tral operation was based on specific intelligence inputs of three militants hiding in a house in Soimoh village of Tral district, 36 km from Srinagar.
The operation commenced on Friday night and contact with the militants was established at 8:15 am, sources said. Para Commandos eventually joined the operation and two terrorists, including Bhat, were killed.
The other militant who was killed was Faizan Muzaffar Bhatt, a resident of Tral, who was studying in class 10 before joining the militant group this year. A search operation was on for the third militant.
Sabzar Bhat is the most high-profile militant target eliminated by security forces in Kashmir this year.
“The three operations since Friday (in which two armed intruders were killed in Uri Sector) should be seen as Pakistan’s desperate act to accelerate militancy. The Indian Army has been conducting relentless counter-terrorism operations from the Line of Control to the hinterland," said a senior Army official.
Sources said security forces have so far recovered an AK-47 rifle, an INSAS rifles, and a large quantity of ammunition from the encounter site.
Sources have also said that currently there are about 350 militants in the Kashmir Valley, out of whom 150 are from Pakistan.
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