SRINAGAR, AUGUST 1: Three persons, including a policeman, have been killed in two separate terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir over the past 10 days, prompting authorities to place the Valley on high alert.
The latest incident took place on Friday evening in Kilam village of Kulgam district, where unidentified gunmen opened fire at a brick kiln, killing two migrant labourers from Chhattisgarh. While one died on the spot, the other succumbed to injuries at Government Medical College, Anantnag. Both had been employed in the Valley for several months.
This marks the second strike in south Kashmir since July 22, when Head Constable Aashiq Hussain Qureshi of the IR 3rd Battalion was shot dead in Anantnag’s Lal Chowk while performing Amarnath Yatra security duty. That attack was the first major terror incident in the Valley since the April 2025 Pahalgam massacre, which claimed 26 civilian lives.
Official sources told Kashmir Convener that Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, accompanied by senior police and Army officers, visited the Kulgam site late Friday night to review the operational response. Search operations have since been intensified, with night cordon-and-search exercises launched in multiple villages.
“We are tracking specific leads. The attackers will be neutralised soon,” a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.
Vehicle and pedestrian checking have been stepped up across south Kashmir districts, the officer added.
In the aftermath of the Anantnag policeman’s killing, security agencies have detained over 3,000 suspected Over Ground Workers (OGWs) across the Valley. The houses of two Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives were also demolished in Anantnag district.
The back-to-back attacks have revived concerns over the safety of non-local labourers—a sensitive flashpoint in the Valley.
In February 2024, two workers from Punjab were shot dead in a similar incident in Srinagar’s Shaheed Gunj area.
With the Amarnath Yatra still underway and a heavy security grid already in place following the Pahalgam attack, the twin strikes have put the security establishment on the defensive.
Officials, however, maintained that counter-terror operations are continuing and the situation remains under control.
“These are isolated acts of desperation. We will not allow the terror ecosystem to regroup,” an intelligence official tod Kashmir Convener.
Meanwhile, the CRPF’s Srinagar Sector said security forces have ramped up ground operations in response to the attacks.
“Security across Kashmir has been placed on high alert. Surveillance has been intensified, checkpoints strengthened, and search operations launched to maintain law and order,” a senior CRPF official said.
Citizens have been urged to remain vigilant and cooperate with security forces, who are conducting vehicle checks at multiple points across the Valley amid rainfall, including searches of car boots and two-wheelers at roadside checkpoints.
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