Two terrorists were gunned down this morning in an encounter in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir, just days after security forces eliminated the three men responsible for the brutal April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. According to initial reports, the slain terrorists were affiliated with the Pakistan-based terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Army’s White Knight Corps posted on social media platform X, revealing that troops had observed suspicious movement along the fence in the general area of Poonch sector. “Gunfire was exchanged, and the operation was underway,” the post stated.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police, Nalin Prabhat, later confirmed that the two terrorists had infiltrated into Indian territory and were killed in the gunfight with security forces. Their identities have not yet been made public.
This fresh encounter comes just two days after three terrorists — Suleiman, Afghani, and Jibran — were killed near Srinagar during Operation Mahadev. The trio had been directly involved in the April 22 Pahalgam massacre, where 26 innocent civilians were killed in cold blood in Baisaran Valley.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in Parliament during a debate on Operation Sindoor, confirmed that the three neutralised terrorists were indeed the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack. He detailed the meticulous process through which their involvement was verified.
Shah explained that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier arrested individuals who provided shelter to the terrorists. After the terrorists were killed and their bodies brought to Srinagar, those previously arrested were asked to identify them. To further corroborate the identification, forensic experts analyzed bullet shells recovered from the Pahalgam attack site.
The Home Minister added that the rifles recovered from the encounter — one M9 and two AK-47s — were flown via a special aircraft to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Chandigarh. There, controlled test firings were conducted to generate fresh bullet casings, which were then matched with those recovered at the Pahalgam scene.
“There is no room for doubt,” Shah declared. “I am holding the ballistic report in my hands. Six scientists have reviewed and cross-verified it, and confirmed to me via video call that the bullets fired during the Pahalgam massacre and those from these rifles are a 100 percent match.”
The back-to-back encounters and detailed forensic follow-up underscore the Indian security establishment’s commitment to delivering justice and dismantling terror networks operating across the border.
