Srinagar

Terrorists involved in the recent killing of Kashmiri artist Ambreen Bhat were eliminated in an encounter that started between the terrorists and the security forces on Thursday at Aganhanzipora area at Awantipora in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Friday.

 

"Both killed newly joined local terrorists identified as Shahid Mushtaq Bhat of Hafroo Chadoora, Budgam and Farhan Habib of Hakripora, Pulwama.

“They had killed TV artist on the instruction of LeT Commanderr Lateef. One AK 56 rifle, fourA magazines and a pistol recovered," Jammu and Kashmir Police quoting Inspector General Police Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar tweeted.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.

 

Ambreen Bhat, a 35-year-old television artist, and a social media influencer was shot from close range by terrorists who came to her house on Thursday evening on the pretext of offering her an assignment. The two terrorists who were killed in a gunfight with the security forces at Soura in Central Kashmir's Srinagar district on Friday have been identified, officials said.

Both the terrorists belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and were local residents.

"The two killed terrorists of LeT have been identified as Shakir Ahmed Waza and Afreen Aftab Malik, both residents of Trenz Shopian and 'C' categorised. Incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition recovered," police said.

The gunfight took place after a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about the presence of terrorists. As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the gunfight.

Ten terrorists belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfits were killed in different security operations in Kashmir in the last three days, police said.

Of the 10 slain terrorists, three were from the JeM and seven from the LeT.