Terrorist killed in Pulwama district: J&K Police

An 'unidentified terrorist' has been killed in an encounter with security officials in the Baragam area of Awantipora town in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district according to the Jammu and Kashmir Police statement on Twitter.

"Awantipora Encounter Update: 01 unidentified terrorist killed. Operation going on. Further details shall follow," the statement reads. Sunday morning's operation comes three days after three terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)- The Resistance Front (TRF) were gunned down by security forces in Shopian on Wednesday. According to the police, these terrorists were part of groups involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on security forces and civilian atrocities.

The latest encounter occured after the terrorists opened fire on security officials who retaliated.m according to army reports.

The last few months have seen a spate of killings associated with militants in the region, with J&K Home Minister telling the Winter Parliament that 40 civilians have been killed and 72 injured in Jammu and Kashmir in terror-related incidents till November 15 this year. The Indian Army has also been engaged in a sustained battle with LeT militants along the borders and jungles of the Poonch district in October and November in which at least 8 Army men lost their lives.

Steps taken by the government to protect civilians from anti-terror operations include proactive operations against terrorists, identification and arrest of over ground workers/supporters of terrorism, action against members of banned organizations, intensified night patrolling. Several prominent activists in Jammu and Kashmir have also been arrested on charges of funding terrorism, including activist Khurram Parvez, the coordinator of the J&K Coalition of Civil Society, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Srinagar on November 23.

The fight against militants has not been without civilian casualties. Data provided by the Home Affairs minister in Parliament showed that since the scrapping of Article 370, the number of civilian deaths had risen while Army deaths had fallen. On an average, the UT has seen 3.2 casualties a month since August 5, 2019, in terror attacks compared to 2.8 casualties a month in nearly five years before that. The comparative figures for Army personnel killed in that period in J&K are 1.7 per month and 2.8 per month.

177 civilians died in attacks in the Union Territory in the 27 months after Article 370 was nullified. Of these, more than 40 were killed this year alone.