A fresh encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists on Thursday morning in the Nader area of Tral, located in Jammu and Kashmir’s Awantipora region. The Kashmir Police confirmed the development via a post on their official handle on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Encounter has started at Nader, Tral area of Awantipora. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow.”
The operation is currently underway, and further information is awaited.
This development comes just two days after a major counter-terrorism success in Shopian district, where security forces eliminated three terrorists affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the Shukroo forest area of Keller. According to sources, two of the slain militants have been identified.
One of them, Shahid Kuttay, a Category A LeT operative from Chotipora Heerpora in Shopian, was involved in several high-profile attacks, including the firing at Danish Resort in Srinagar on April 8, 2024, which injured two German tourists and a driver. He had joined the terror group on March 8, 2023.
Kuttay was also linked to the assassination of a BJP sarpanch in Heerpora on May 18, 2024, and is suspected to have played a role in the killing of a Territorial Army personnel in Behibagh, Kulgam on February 3, 2025.
The second identified terrorist, Adnan Shafi Dar from Wanduna Melhora in Shopian, was a Category C LeT operative who joined the outfit on October 18, 2024. He was involved in the killing of non-local labourers in Wachi, Shopian, on the same day he joined.
The identity of the third terrorist killed in the Shopian encounter is yet to be confirmed. Security operations continue as forces remain on high alert across the Kashmir Valley amid heightened militant activity.
