As Search Continues In Kulgam, Know How A 2024 Encounter Helped Identify Pahalgam terrorists
The identification of the 3 Pahalgam terrorists have a connection with an encounter that took place last year (Image courtesy: X.com/@Tar21Operator)
Last week saw some big developments on the security front as forces neutralised at least 8 terrorists in three different encounters. After Operation Mahadev, in which security forces killed 3 terrorists involved in the April 22 Pahalgam attack, and Operation ShivShakti, in which 2 terrorists were killed in an encounter, another fight broke out in Kulgam.
Continuing their regular security related operations, the security forces killed another 3 terrorists in the Akhal Devsar area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The strike codenamed ‘Operation Akhal’ started on since Friday (August 1). Now, the forces are looking for any bodies of militants or ammunition in the forests of Kulgam.
The exchange of firing between the forces and terrorists stopped on the third day of the encounter with militants on Sunday (August 3). A senior official shared that one body of a slain militant has been recovered so far.
“After the firing stopped around noon on Sunday, the searches were conducted by the security forces but no other body has been recovered so far. Only one body recovered in the three-day operation,” he added.
Pahalgam attackers killed: What is the 2024 encounter connection?
As the searches for more slain terrorists continue in the forests of Kulgam, we take a look at how a 2024 encounter helped in the identification of the Pahalgam attackers neutralised on July 28. It has been reported that these attackers had infiltrated India around 3 years ago, hiding deep in the forests.
New details have now revealed that the 3 Pahalgam terrorists were identified and tracked with the help of photographs which were recovered last year from a mobile seized by the security forces following an encounter in south Kashmir, The Hindu reported citing a senior government official.
This seized mobile phone had many pictures of the 3 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists identified as Suleman, alias Faizal Jatt, Hamza Afghani, and Zibran posing with guns and ammunition. These images were then matched with the accounts of eyewitnesses present during the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
