4 Hizbul militants killed in encounter

Srinagar: In yet another operational success, security forces killed four Hizbul Mujahideen militants on Monday in Jammu and Kashmir''s Shopian district, taking the total number of slain terrorists during the past 24 hours in South Kashmir to nine.

Lauding the role of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF and the army, General officer Commanding (GoC) 15 Corps Lt Gen B S Raju said the operation was conducted in a "smooth manner" with no collateral damage to civilian property.

Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference at the Victor Force headquarters at Awantipora, 33 km from here, Gen Raju said the operation was conducted smoothly because of the professionalism of all the agencies involved. Security forces have managed to eliminate 101 terrorists this year in Jammu and Kashmir, and are now focusing on neutralising around 125 more ultras, including 25 foreign terrorists, in the southern districts of the Valley, officials said on Monday.

Lt General B S Raju sai d while it was difficult to put out an exact number of terrorists active at the moment, the security forces were looking at 100 odd local ultras and around 25 foreign terrorists in south Kashmir.

"We can give a rough figure of 100 odd local terrorists (that) we are looking at and, may be, another 20-25 foreign terrorists," Gen Raju told reporters at a hurriedly convened press conference at the Victor Force Headquarters in Awantipora, 33 km from Srinagar.