4 Terrorists Behind Migrant Workers' Killing Shot Dead In J&K Encounters

Four terrorists of Lashkar-e-Toiba who were involved in the recent killings of three migrant workers have been shot dead in back-to-back encounters in Shopian and Kulgam districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

One army soldier was also killed in action and two others were injured.

While two terrorists were killed in the encounter at Dragad in Shopian, two others were killed in a gun battle in Kulgam district.

17 terrorists have been killed during 11 encounters in the last two weeks, according to Vijay Kumar, inspector-general of police (IGP), Kashmir.

The 25-year-old army soldier, Karnveer Singh of 44 Rashtriya Rifles, was killed in action in the Shopian operation.

The first encounter erupted after the army launched an anti-terrorist operation at Dragad village of Shopian district this morning. "One of the killed terrorists Adil Ahmad Wani was involved into the killing of migrant worker Sageer Ahmad in Pulwama on Sunday," a police spokesman said.

Hours later, security forces launched another operation in Kulgam district after they received a specific information about presence of two terrorists of LeT. The terrorists turned down the repeated surrender appeals and eventually both the terrorists were killed in the operation, according to a defence spokesman.

According to police, the killed terrorists, including a Lashkar commander, were involved into the killing of two migrant labourers from Bihar.

Kashmir has witnessed a spate of targeted civilian killings that has triggered an exodus of migrant labourers who are queuing up outside bus and train stations to return home.

11 civilians have been killed by terrorists this month in targeted attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. Of the 11, five were from other states. This indicates that the terrorists want to drive people from other states out of Kashmir, an official said.