Jammu and Kashmir: 5 LeT terrorists killed in Bandipora district

At least five terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who recently infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir were killed in an encounter on Friday, police said.

The encounter took place at Sumlar area in Bandipora district of north Kashmir.

Police said the five had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) recently and were on their way to other parts of the Valley.

The encounter between security forces and terrorists started on Thursday when an unidentified militant was killed.

The security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in the forests of Sumlar area following information about the presence of militants there, a police official had said.

The official said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire towards security forces' positions.

Friday's killings come shortly after the dead bodies of three policemen – two SPOs and a constable, were recovered on Friday morning. They had gone missing on Thursday. They have been identified as Firdous Ahmad Kuchey, Kuldeep Singh and Fayaz Ahmad Bhat.

They were allegedly abducted by terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. The outfit had earlier sent an audio threat saying SPO’s should resign from their jobs.

Nisar Ahmad, brother of a policeman, was also abducted by terrorists on Thursday. He was later released.