Terrorist planning suicide attack gunned down in Srinagar

A member of proscribed terror outfit Mujahideen Gazwatul Hind, who was assigned to carry out a 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack in Srinagar, was killed in Srinagar, while a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) district commander was among the two ultras killed in an encounter in south Kashmir's Kulgam district, police said on Friday.

The terrorist killed in Srinagar was a relative of one of the accused in the February 2019 suicide attack in Pulwama's Lethpora, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives.

'#Terrorist killed in #Srinagar #Encounter identified as Aamir Riyaz of Khrew #Pulwama affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Mujahideen Gazwatul Hind. He was relative of one of the accused of #LethporaTerrorAttack and was assigned to carry out fidayeen attack,' Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar wrote on Twitter.

The encounter in Srinagar broke out on Thursday evening in the Hamdaniya Colony area of Bemina.

An AK rifle, along with some ammunition, was seized from the site of the encounter after the slain terrorist's body was recovered.

Claiming responsibility for an 'attack', the Mujahideen Ghazwatul Hind said three of its cadres 'attacked the CRPF camp'.

Meanwhile, police said a district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen was among the two terrorists killed in Kulgam.

'Killed #terrorists identified as district commander of HM Shiraz Molvi & Yawar Bhat,' the police wrote on Twitter.

They said Shiraz was active since 2016 and was involved in recruiting youngsters into terror ranks.

He was also involved in several civilian killings.

'A big success for us,' the IGP, Kashmir said.

The encounter in Kulgam's Chawalgam broke out after security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the area on Thursday following specific inputs about the presence of terrorists there.