Two Jaish terrorists killed in encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora; arms and ammunition recovered

New Delhi: Two terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit were killed in an overnight gunfight in Rajpora village of Awantipora police district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Tuesday (May 31, 2022). The slain terrorists have been identified as Shahid Rather, a resident of Tral, and Umar Yousuf, a resident of Shopian, IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said.

"Besides other terror crimes, Shahid was involved in the killing of a woman Shakeela of Aripal village and a government employee Javid Ahmed of Lurgam Tral," Kumar added.

Killed #terrorists identified as Shahid Rather of #Tral & Umar Yousuf of #Shopian. Besides other #terror crimes, #terrorist Shahid was involved in killing of a woman Mst Shakeela of Aripal & a govt employee/ peon Javid Ahmed of Lurgam Tral: IGP Kashmir@JmuKmrPolice — Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) May 31, 2022

The encounter had started at Rajpora on Monday afternoon after an input about the presence of terrorists in the area but was suspended due to darkness. 

It is notable that it was the 55th encounter of this year and security forces have so far killed 88 terrorists including 26 Pakistani terrorists. 

Pistol-borne hybrid terrorism a new challenge for security forces

After failing to target security establishments and bunkers, terrorists have changed their modus operandi to keep terrorism alive. They have turned to pistol-borne hybrid terrorism, which has become a new challenge for security forces.

According to the police officials, to keep the ball rolling, terrorists have got instructions from Pakistan to hit soft targets, including minorities, civilians, off-duty policemen, panchayat members and pro-Indian people. 

Pakistani terrorists, with the help of local terrorists, choose emotional youths, lure them into terrorism, and provide them with a pistol with a task to kill an unarmed Indian. 

In the last four months in Jammu and Kashmir, pistol-borne terrorists, mostly hybrid terrorists, have been carrying hit and run target killings across the Valley. 

So far, around 14 civilians, including an off-duty policeman, have been killed in target killings in Kashmir.