An eerie silence prevails with concertina wire barricades laid on deserted streets and police and armed forces personnel allowing civilians to move only after thorough checking.
Four terrorists and a soldier were killed in an overnight encounter in the Handwara area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said on Thursday.
Major Raghunath Ahlawat (34), hailing from Delhi, was leading his team in a counter-infiltration operation based on a reliable intelligence input in Uri sector on Thursday.
Curfew remained in force on Thursday in parts of Kashmir valley as a preventive measure to maintain law and order after a youth was killed when security forces allegedly opened fire to chase away stone-pelting protesters.
Four militants, including a self-styled divisional commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit, were shot dead in separate encounters in Kashmir Valley. The self-styled divisional commander of LeT Mehboob Ahmed Afradi alias Jugnu was killed in a joint operation by army and police personnel in Baramulla district on Friday, a defence spokesman said.In another operation, police and army personnel killed three militants at Sona Pindi in Kupwara on Thursday night.
After nearly a week, curfew was lifted on Sunday in the entire Kashmir Valley in view of the situation remaining generally peaceful but prohibitory orders have been imposed in Baramulla, Anantnag and Pulwama districts besides some parts of Srinagar, officials said.
Terroristss lobbed a grenade towards a security forces camp in Sopore town of Baramulla district in Kashmir but no damage was done in the explosion, official sources said in Srinagar.
The Indian Army on Sunday paid homage to and laid to rest its canine soldier 'Axel', who made the supreme sacrifice during an anti-terror operation but not before pinpointing the location of a holed-up terrorist and thereby protecting a mosque in the vicinity.
A gunbattle broke out between militants and security forces in Tangmarg area of north Kashmir' Baramulla district on Thursday.
She also sought confidence building measures to be undertaken on the lines of those initiated in 2002.
An Army-run school in Baramulla district has stoked a controversy by asking its staff to avoid wearing the hijab during school hours, prompting criticism from Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream political parties.
The valley is under the iron grip of the armed forces and Pakistan does not have the military power or political support to change the status quo, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), after a recent visit to Kashmir.
It has met 20 such delegations and members of the public from Ramban, Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar, Kathua and Doda districts.
A resident of Uttarakhand's Badena village, Singh had joined the army in 2016 and is survived by his parents.
Normal life was disrupted in Kashmir Valley on Thursday due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani to protest killings in Gaza and to mourn the death of seven persons in an accident involving an army vehicle.
Believe it or not, a train in Kashmir ran unmanned for 37 km on Saturday night leading to an inquiry against officials on duty.
Curfew was lifted in most parts of Kashmir from Monday and it was completely withdrawn two days ago.
Fresh snowfall disrupted normal life in Jammu and Kashmir, where an avalanche warning was issued in five districts, higher reaches and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh and the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand on Monday.
Three ultras were killed in the exchange of fire with security forces, the official said, adding the identity and group affiliation of the slain were being ascertained.
With Lone's death, the number of people killed in the unrest in the Valley, which entered the second month on Monday, reached 55, including two police personnel.
Curfew remained in force in the five districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian and Baramulla.
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday said they have arrested five 'hybrid' terrorists of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Tayiba outfit, three of whom were allegedly involved in the killing of a sarpanch in Baramulla district last month.
Landslides have occurred near Ramban and Battery Cheshma which have forced the closure of the highway.
The death toll in the unrest in Kashmir rose to 44.
Gen Singh also discussed with Mehbooba the security arrangements for the by-polls to Anantnag assembly constituency from where the chief minister is contesting, the spokesman said. The polling will take place on June 22.
The incident took place at Sirnoo village in the morning when the security forces laid siege to a locality based on intelligence reports about the presence of three terrorists, including an army deserter - Zahoor Ahmad Thoker, in the area, police officials said.
Shah arrived in the evening and was received at the airport by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union minister Jitendra Singh, among others.
The three-year-old son of a former militant, who was critically wounded in an attack in north Kashmir's Sopore town on Saturday evening, succumbed to injuries in a hospital in Srinagar.
Militants snatched an automatic rifle along with a magazine from a cop and decamped with it in south Kashmir Pulwama town on Tuesday afternoon.
Curfew and restrictions continued in Kashmir for the 29th day after fresh clashes erupted in the Valley killing three men on Friday.
The National Investigation Agency conducted searches at nearly a dozen places linked to The Resistance Front terror group in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, days after its announced cash rewards of Rs 10 lakh each on information leading to the arrest of its four cadres.
The panel had first visited the Valley in October after which it had recommended an immediate ban on use of pellet guns by security forces.
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Singh said there is a large presence of terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC) but expressed confidence that the counter-infiltration grid will take care of the threat.
The incidents occurred just days ahead of the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah starting October 4.
Jammu and Kashmir cops mistakenly used the image of Irfan Shah, a resident of Kupwara, instead of militant Abdul Qayoom Najar.
The curbs on assembly of people were put in place in the police station areas of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal and Maharaj Gunj in downtown (interior) areas and in Maisuma in Srinagar, as well as in Shopian town.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level meeting at his residence on Tuesday morning to review the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
