Srinagar, June 20 (UNI) On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start his two day visit to Kashmir, Army said the two militants killed in north Kashmir encounter on Wednesday were Pakistanis and associated with banned Lashkar-e-Taiba group.

Security forces yesterday shot dead two militants identified as Usman and Umar, both Pakistanis, during a gun battle in Hadipora area of Rafiabad Sopore sub district in north Kashmir. Two security men were also injured during the gunfight.

Commander of Army’s 7 sector Rashtriya Rifles (RR) Deepak Mohan said the killing of the two was "a big success" for security forces.

“The duo were associated with LeT. Usman was active in valley since 2020,” Brigadier Deepak Mohan said while briefing the media on the Hadipora operation. The Army officer was flanked by Deputy Inspector General of Police north Kashmir, Vivek Gupta and SP Sopore.

The Army officer said that large quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from the site of the encounter.

“Their killing is a big success for the security forces,” Commander of Army’s 7 sector RR said, adding that from last one month security forces have maintained a high operational momentum resulting in lot of successes.

Giving details about the operation, Brigadier Deepak Mohan said there were continuous inputs from the last few days about the presence of terrorists in Rafiabad.

“On June 19, J&K police generated specific information about the presence of terrorists in a house at Hadipora village in Rafiabad, after which the army, police and CRPF launched a joint terrorist operation.
"In no time the area was cordoned. As per the procedure, we safely evacuated the civilians from nearby houses. As the cordon around the target house was tightened, the terrorists opened fire on security forces. In retaliatory action both terrorists were eliminated,” he said.

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