After rejecting calls for a ceasefire during Ramazan, the Indian Army has launched a major offensive in the northern Bandipora forests in Jammu and Kashmir. | The operations have seen five militants, including a commander, killed in two separate battles. |
A defence spokesman here said two Jaish-e-Mohammad militants, identified as divisional commander Abu Bakar alias Osman of Pakistan, and district commander Mohammad Tariq of Muzaffarabad, were killed in a joint operation conducted by the Rashtriya Rifles and Khayyar village police in Bandipora. One militant, Ammanullah Bukhari, escaped, he added. In another encounter, the spokesman said, three Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed at Sarewal forest in BandiporaÂ’s Sumblar area early today.
Bandipora has been regarded as a safe haven for militants over the past two years. The army spokesman said militants used the area as a transit route to enter the central part of Kashmir Valley.