Two Terrorists Gunned Down In Encounter With Security Forces In J-K's Awantipora

Two terrorists have been gunned down in separate encounters by security forces in Awantipora town of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a police spokesperson, the gun battle broke out between terrorists and security forces on the outskirts of Awantipora this morning following a tip about the presence of ultras in the area.

One of the terrorists has been identified as Ufaid Farooq Lone (code name Abu Muslim) who was affiliated to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. 

"Lone was involved in many terrorist activities including recent grenade attacks and in threatening and beating shopkeepers and fruit growers post abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A," an official said. He was a resident of Mukdam Mohalla in Awantipora.

The second terrorist, who was hiding in the corn fields and was also killed, has been identified as Abaas belonging to the same village Kawani in Awantipora. He was a hardcore militant of Jaish-e-Muhammed and was wanted in a large number of terrorist activities.

Earlier, a top Hizbul Mujahideen 'commander', Osama, and his two associates, Zahid and Farooq, were gunned down in the gunfight. An Army soldier was also killed in the exchange of fire.

The terrorists were killed when they tried to escape from a house where they had sought refuge while being chased by security forces following a brief exchange of fire in Batote area along Jammu-Kishtwar national highway.

According to officials, Osama was the brain behind several sensational incidents, including the killings of senior BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar on November 1, 2018, and RSS functionary Chanderkant Sharma and his personal security officer on April 9.

A Jammu and Kashmir Police spokesperson said Singh first visited the house in Batote where the terrorists had taken refuge. He interacted with the family living in the house, including the elderly house owner, Vijay Kumar, who was "trapped" inside during the encounter.