Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Zadoora area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir during the night following specific information about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said.
The operation was in progress when reports last came in.
The search operation turned into an encounter after terrorists fired upon a search party of the forces, who retaliated.
Two AK rifles and one INSAS rifle have been recovered from the spot.
A government employee belonging to the Kashmir Pandit community was shot dead by suspected militants at his office in the Chadoora area of Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said in Srinagar.
A bank employee from Rajasthan was shot dead on Thursday by terrorists in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Terming the killing a "cowardly act", the protesters said assurances given by the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure the safety of minorities in the Valley have proved to be false.
The BSF claimed to have foiled the plans of terrorists to disrupt the Amarnath Yatra.
Abdul Hamid Najar, a resident of Mohiendpora area of Budgam in central Kashmir, was shot at and critically injured by terrorists in his native village on Sunday, the official said.
The Army has initiated general court martial proceedings against a captain for the killing of three men in a staged encounter in Amshipura in south Kashmir in July 2020 after a Court of Inquiry found that troops had 'exceeded' powers vested under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, officials said in Srinagar on Sunday.
The assailants fired upon Javeed Ahmad Dar near his residence at Brazloo Jageer area of the south Kashmir district at around 4.30 pm, officials said.
Thinning out of the counter infiltration and counter terrorism grid is fraught with the danger of revival of terrorism in the Poonch-Rajouri area, cautions Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd), the counter-insurgency expert.
Security agencies on Tuesday identified the terrorists they believed were behind the civilian killings in Srinagar last week, and the attackers included their 25-year-old kingpin Basit Ahmed Dar, a resident of Kulgam in South Kashmir, officials said.
The Amarnath pilgrimage resumed on Monday after remaining suspended for three days following flash floods that claimed 15 lives, while the Jammu and Kashmir administration said it would get a clear picture by Tuesday about the damage.
Security bunkers manned by the central armed paramilitary forces are being set up in many areas of Srinagar where these were removed between 2011 and 2014 following the overall improvement in the security situation across Kashmir.
The 42-day-long annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine was scheduled to commence on June 23.
'There is a sustainable level of residual terrorism that will be difficult to handle as long as Pakistani support and safe havens are available.'
The accused, identified as Tariq Mir, a resident of Maldoora of Shopian district in south Kashmir, was the fifth person arrested in the case which came to light when Singh was arrested along with three terrorists including a most wanted Hizbul Mujahideen commander in January this year.
The sectarian killings by hit-and-run groups have revived and sharpened communal fears among the victims while the Poonch encounter reveals how deep the terrorists have dug in without getting noticed in the porous border area, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
There have been no civilian casualties or collateral damage, the Army said.
The Jammu and Kashmir authorities have already snapped mobile internet services across the valley as a precautionary measure, in anticipation of a possible a law and order problem, police said, adding that there are strict restrictions on the movement of people.
This is the third major encounter in Shopian in four days.
Davinder Singh, posted as the deputy superintendent of police, was arrested last weekend along with terrorists.
As many as 160 terrorists were killed and 102 arrested in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
The protesters have been demanding their relocation to safe environments in the wake of a spurt in the attacks on the minority community members in the valley.
"The killing of Abdul Rehman alias Fauji Bhai alias Fauji Baba, a Pakistani national, is a big success for security forces as he was a master in assembling improvised explosive devices for JeM," Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters in Srinagar.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday sacked police constable Tawseef Ahmed Mir, who has been accused of actively working for Hizbul Mujahideen and trying to kill two of his colleagues, and four more employees for alleged links with terror groups.
The minimum temperature across the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh Union Territory stayed several degrees below the freezing point, intensifying the cold wave in some areas in the region, an official of the Meteorological Department said. He said Srinagar city recorded the low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius last night, down from minus 5.8 degree Celsius the previous night.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan' -- the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region
Thousands of labourers, mostly Hindus and some Muslims, from different states arrived at railway stations and bus stands in Jammu and Udhampur after leaving the Valley.
Officials said Bilal Ahmed Kuchey had allowed the terrorists to use his house as a hideout and also provided them with high-end mobile phones.
Reasi district of Jammu region recorded 75.20 per cent voting, the highest in the union territory, State Election Commissioner (SEC) K K Sharma said, adding that 50.53 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the third phase of the maiden DDC polls in J-K.
The security forces had launched a cordon-and-search operation at Hanjin village in the Rajpora area of Pulwama following information about the presence of the terrorists there, a police official said.
According to Times Now Navbharat channel, it has 'accessed undeniable visual evidence' that confirms Pakistan's 'deep state is still providing a safe haven to terror masterminds' including Masood Azhar, who heads Jaish-e- Mohammed terror group.
As the terrorists reached their house in Hariparigam village in Awantipora around 10:30 pm, Ahmed's daughter-in-law placed her 18-month-old daughter at the feet of the terrorists pleading them to spare the family.
Dhoni's two-week stint with his unit was approved by the Army headquarters last week on his request.
Mohammad Iqbal Rather, 25, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam, had allegedly facilitated the movement of Muhammad Umar Farooq -- a member of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and the key conspirator in the case -- after he infiltrated into the Indian territory in the Jammu region in April 2018, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
Admitting that several party workers, most of them lower-rung activists, have resigned over the last few days following the recent attacks on BJP panchayat members and sarpanches, a BJP leader said some were from Budgam district in central Kashmir.
Ishfaq Dar alias Abu Akram, was not only responsible for attacks on security forces, but also for civilian killings, police said.
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