In a major success for the security forces, top commander of Jaish e Mohammad was gunned down in an encounter at Samboora village of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday.
The terrorist has been identified as Noor Mohammad Tantray alias Noor Trali, a three feet midget who had jumped parole in July and taken over the command of Jaish in South Kashmir. Tantray was arrested in Delhi in 2003 and sentenced to life by a POTA court in 2011.
"The encounter has been going on since last evening in Awantipura district. There was input about presence of two to three terrorists near National Highway planning to attack convoy. One dead body of terrorist recovered so far, search for others going on", tweeted Dr Shesh Paul Vaid, director general of police, Jammu and Kashmir.
The anti-terror operation started on Monday evening after security forces received a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in the village.
Immediately the village was cordoned off and when the search team was zeroing in on the target, militants opened heavy fire.
The fire was retaliated and in the ensuing gun fight one militant was gunned down. "Dead body of one mulitant with arms and ammunition recovered. Search continues", said a police spokesman at Srinagar.
The 2017 also saw highest number of over 206 militants being killed since 2010. Figures reveal that 270 terrorists were killed by security forces in 2010. The figure came down to 119 in 2011. Around 84 terrorists were killed in 2012 followed by 100 in 2013, 110 in 2014 and 113 in 2015.
Despite unrest, security forces killed 165 terrorists in 2016. This year close to 100 local youth have joined the terrorists ranks in the strife-torn Kashmir Valley, which is the highest in last seven years.
