Massive retribution for India, Army guns down Pulwama attack mastermind Kamran

An encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district Sunday night. The encounter reported Pinglia area of Pulwama. Two-three terrorists are believed to be holed up in this encounter.

Pulwama: Flames rise from the house where two alleged masterminds of Lethpora suicide car bomb attacks were said to be hiding, during an encounter with the security forces, in Pinglena area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir. Photo: PTI

Pulwama: In what comes as a massive retribution to the CRPF martyrs of the Pulwama terror attack, the Indian Army on Monday gunned down top Jaish commander Kamran, the main perpetrator of the deadly fidayeen assault on forces, and two other terrorists in an encounter that broke out in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama. Five security personnel including an Army major were also killed in the gunfight. At least six security personnel, including a lieutenant colonel and a deputy inspector general, were also injured in the gun battle in Pulwama's Pinglan area, about 12 km from where a suicide bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus last week, killing 40 jawans. The Pinglan encounter claimed the lives four Army personnel, one policeman, two Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists and a civilian, officials said. The slain terrorists were identified as Kamran, a Pakistani national and top commander of the Jaish, and Hilal Ahmad, a local recruited by the terror group, they said. The slain soldiers are Major V S Dhondial, Havaldar Sheo Ram and Sepoys Hari Singh and Ajay Kumar. The injured included DIG (south Kashmir) Amit Kumar, who received a gunshot wound in the abdomen, and a brigade commander, who was hurt in the leg. All the injured are stable, officials said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Pinglan area of Pulwama district of south Kashmir during the night after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said. The police official added that as the forces were conducting searches, the militants fired upon them, triggering off a gun battle.

BREAKING: 2 Jaish terrorists, including a commander gunned down by Indian Army in #Pulwamahttps://t.co/DklVA2kRqn pic.twitter.com/Ejvu6BqIeO

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) February 18, 2019

Intermittent firing was going on between the two sides till the last reports came in. Forty CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber affiliated to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) targeted a convoy of the security forces with a car bomb at Awantipora in Pulwama district on Thursday. The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday decided to withdraw the  security of five separatist leaders including Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Apart from Mirwaiz, the security cover of  Abdul Ghani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi and Shabir Shah has also been withdrawn. According to the official order, no security forces or cover will be provided, under any pretext, to these or any other separatists.