TWO terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district, officials said here on Tuesday. A top commander of the banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba’s frontal organisation The Resistance Front (TRF) was among the two killed. The security forces had launched a cordon-and-search operation in Kulgam’s Redwani village late on Monday night following information about the presence of terrorists in the area, they said. However, the search operation turned into an encounter, which was on till last reports came in, the officials said.

 

The house in which the terrorists were hiding caught fire on Tuesday morning during the exchange of fire between the two sides. Police officer said at least two bodies were seen at the encounter site and efforts are on to retrieve those. “The identity and group affiliation of the slain ultras can be revealed only after the bodies are retrieved,” he added. IGP Kashmir V K Birdi told reporters that the top TRF commander identified as Basit Dar is one of the two terrorists killed by the security forces in the encounter in the Redwani area of Kulgam district. “The identity of the second slain terrorist is being ascertained. Firing exchanges have stopped, but searches are still going on in the area,” police said. It must be recalled that Kulgam is part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha where voting is scheduled for May 25.