Security forces have busted an active terrorist hideout and recovered warlike stores in an area on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army said on Tuesday. The Chinar Corps of the army tweeted that the joint operation was launched in the morning in Harwan, which is about 19km from Srinagar city. “Op Harwan (#Srinagar). Joint Operation launched today early morning on own sources inputs corroborated by @JmuKmrPolice,” it said. “An active hideout busted & warlike stores – UBGL with grenades, GPS, AK magazine & administrative stores recovered. Joint operation in progress,” it added. Thiis comes after three terrorists were killed in a gunfight in Srinagar after they refused to surrender on Sunday. This was the second such operation in the city in just over a month. Vijay Kumar, Kashmir’s inspector general of police, said one of the terrorists was a local resident and involved in the killing of two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel near the city’s Pandach Chowk during Ramzan May 20. He was identified as Shakoor Farooq Langoo of Bharthana near Srinagar. The second terrorist, Shahid Ahmad Bhat, was a resident of Semthan Bijbehara in South Kashmir, while the third person was yet to be identified. They were affiliated to the Hizbul Mujahideen, a banned local group, and the Kashmir unit of the Islamic State, according to the police, who said the terrorists were working jointly. Security forces have stepped up the offensive in the Kashmir Valley and killed more than 100 terrorists in operations since the beginning of this year. Several of these encounters have taken place in south Kashmir, which is considered the hotbed of militancy in the region.
