SOURCE: TIMES NOW
Top Hizbul Commander Riyaz Naikoo was killed in an encounterAwantipora area of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. The terrorist was gunned down in a joint operation by J&K police, Indian Army and CRPF in Awantipora’s Sharshali Khrew area, the police said.
According to reports, the security forces had launched an operation to apprehend Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo. The operation was underway at the time of writing this report. Yet another operation is underway in Shaar area of Pampore in Pulwama district. Both the operations were launched by the security forces during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
The counter-terrorism operations were launched based on a tip-off of the presence of terrorists in the areas, said reports.
There have been a series of counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir valley in the past few months. On Sunday, five security personnel including the commanding officer of 21-Rashtriya Rifles and four others were martyred during an operation in Handwara in north Kashmir.
Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, the commanding officer of 21-Rashtriya Rifles, Major Anuj Sood, Naik Rajesh Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh and Jammu and Kashmir Police Sub-Inspector, Sageer Ahmad Pathan alias Qazi were martyred during the operation.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat paid tributes to fallen bravehearts and promised that the sacrifice of the jawans will never in vain.Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said that the country is proud of his soldiers who laid down their lives to protect their motherland.
“I would like to emphasise that Indian Army will give proportionate response to all acts of infringement of ceasefire and its (Pakistan’s) support to terrorism. The onus remains with Pakistan to bring peace in the region,” the Chief of Army Staff said.
“Unless Pakistan gives up its policy of state-sponsored terrorism, we will continue to respond appropriately and with precision,” he added.
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