Two civilians, including a Panch (member of Gram Panchayat, village level local self-Government institution) were killed and eight others injured in two separate militant attacks in Srinagar and Anantnag Districts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on November 26, reports Daily Excelsior. Militants this evening hurled a grenade at Hakura village of Anantnag District where ‘Back to Village Programme’ was going on. The Panch came out to assess the situation and was fired at by the militants in which he and an employee of the Agriculture Department were killed and Panch’s relative was injured. The deceased were identified as Syed Rafi, a Panch and Vice Chairman of Block Development Council (BDC) and Agriculture Department Official Sheikh Zahoor Ahmad. Also, seven persons were injured in a grenade attack at Saderbal area of Srinagar outside Kashmir University. One car was also damaged.
Separately, one more militant was killed in the encounter at Pacchad village in Pulwama District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on November 26, reports Daily Excelsior. He had managed to flee in the night of November 25 but was spotted by the Army in the morning and was shot dead. Major General Anindya Sengupta, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Victor Force, said that for last two days they were getting reports about militants threatening civilian population in the area.“Yesterday [November 25] evening, we launched an operation and at around 18:45 hours, militants came in a civil vehicle and troops challenged them. One terrorist was killed in the vehicle and another fled. In the morning, one terrorist who had fled was spotted and engaged by the Army. He was later shot dead”, he said. The GOC identified them as Irfan Ahmad Sheikh, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) ‘commander’ for Budgam and Pulwama and his associate Irfan Ahmad. SATP had earlier reported that one HM militant was killed in the encounter on November 25.
Security Forces (SFs) on November 25 arrested an Over Ground Worker of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), namely Omar, from Sopore area in Baramulla District of Jammu and Kashmir and recovered a grenade from his possession, reports Daily Excelsior. A security official said that the grenade was handed over to him by one Basit and he was asked to throw it on the recruitment rally of the Army near Baramulla Rail-way Station to cause maximum casualties. An unnamed officer said that later raids were conducted in Sopore area and his (Omar) four associates were arrested and one pistol was recovered from them. They were identified as Basit, Saqlain Mushtaq, Baber and Jehangir. The officer said that these five were tasked by the LeT to carry out grenade attacks on the SFs and enforce strike in Baramulla District by trageting shopkeepers.
Police officials on November 23 sais that an unspecified number of persons with suspected terror links were arrested in Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly threatening local businessman by sticking posters and impeding the restoration of normalcy in the Valley, reports News 18. Police have taken note of the incidents of sticking posters to intimidate shopkeepers and a strong action is being taken against those involved, Kashmir Inspector General of Police S P Pani stated. Pani said police were investigating such incidents and it has been established that in certain cases, there was active terror support behind such incidents."The investigation is on. In some cases, there are mischievous elements the miscreants, while in others, there are active terror modules behind such incidents," he said. The IGP said several persons have been arrested from different parts of the Valley including Srinagar."Several of these modules have been busted and some of the people involved in this have been arrested. Those arrested include four-five prominent modules in Sopore, Awantipora and even Srinagar," Pani said.
Meanwhile, Security Forces (SFs) in the evening of November 25 averted a major tragedy when they recovered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were planted under the bridge at Kagas Gund, Dooru in Anantnag District of Jammu and Kashmir, reports Daily Excelsior.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Anantnag, Altaf Khan said that two IEDs were planted under the bridge. While one was kept in a pressure cooker, another was concealed in a pipe. He said that they could have caused huge damage as they were very powerful weighing 12 kilogramme each. A Bomb Disposal Squad was later sent to the spot and both the IEDs were detonated.