JeM Commander Sajjad Afghani Among Two Militants Killed In J&K's Shopian Encounter

In a major success for the security forces, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Sajjad Afghani was killed in the Shopian encounter that restarted on Monday. According to the reports, the deceased was involved in the recruitment of new youths into terrorism.

An encounter had first broken out between the millitants and Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police in Shopian's Rawalpora area when the forces launched a search operation in the Shopian district on Saturday evening following inputs that some terrorists were hiding in the area. The operation was however put on hold on Sunday to ensure that the militants dont escape. 

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Later, the security forces restarted the operation and said that the Afghani's aide, Jahangir Ahmad Wani. was shot down during the encounter. According to the media reports, Wani, the son of Abdul Rehman Wani and resident of Rakh Narapora Shopian,  was affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The forces post encounter recovered AK-47 rifle with a UBL shell and one USA made rifle's M-4 carbine from the site. 

Last year in December 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir Police  claimed to have arrested a missing Special Police Officer (SPO) along with three militant associates of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Central Kashmir's Budgam district. Out of them, one was identified as Desserter SPO turned militant Altaf Hussain. The other 3 have been identified as, Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Jamsheed Magray, and Zahid Dar all residents of Pulwama.