Top Let terrorist holed up in Srinagar encounter

Srinagar: Top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Saif-ul-lah is among the two terrorists holed up in a residential area as an encounter between them and the security forces raged on since Monday morning in the Rambagh area of Srinagar district, police said.

Inspector-General of Police Vijay Kumar said the Srinagar Police launched an operation after an input that two terrorists, including a local terrorist, were hiding in the Barzulla area.

"He is the Pakistani terrorist, named Saif-ul-lah of the LeT, who had carried out an attack in Chadoora on September 24 in which one Assistant Sub Inspector was martyred, and was also involved in a terror attack in August in which two CRPF men were martyred and three others were injured.

"He is an LeT militant from Pakistan, we will neutralise him soon, the operation is going on," Kumar said.

He said the second terrorist is a local belonging to south Kashmir. "The security forces are taking precautions to prevent any collateral damage during the operation," he said.

The gunfight between the terrorists and the security forces took place after the forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.