At least a dozen people were injured when terrorists threw a grenade in a crowded flea market in the heart of the city here on Sunday, officials said.The attack, which occurred near the heavily guarded Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) in the heart of the city, caused panic in the area and sent shoppers scrambling for cover. Two women were among the 12 civilians injured when terrorists threw a grenade towards a CRPF bunker near a crowded flea market.Police and paramilitary forces have been rushed to the spot to evacuate the injured and launch a search operation to track the terrorists, the officials said.”The last few days have been dominated by headlines of attacks & encounters in parts of the valley. Today’s news of a grenade attack on innocent shoppers at the ‘Sunday market’ in Srinagar is deeply disturbing,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wrote on X.”There can be no justification for targeting innocent civilians. The security apparatus must do everything possible to end this spurt of attacks at the earliest so that people can go about their lives without any fear,” he added.The Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir unit chief, Tariq Hameed Karra, also condemned the grenade attack.”It is deeply disturbing to learn about the unfortunate and ghastly incident of a grenade attack on shopkeepers,” Karra said.”The Jammu and Kashmir Police must take effective measures to contain such brutal and inhuman attacks so that the public can move freely and without any fear,” he added.The attack comes a day after a top Pakistani commander of the banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and two other terrorists were killed in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar and Anantnag districts on Saturday.The LeT commander, identified as Usman, was active in the valley for several years and was also involved in the killing of Inspector Masroor Wani, a senior police officer said. Wani was shot dead from close range while he was playing cricket in the Eidgah ground here in October last year.Usman was active in the valley for a very long time and was involved in several attacks, the officer said, adding that his killing is a “major blow” to the LeT in Jammu and Kashmir.”Usman was the seniormost Pakistani LeT commander here,” he said.Four security forces personnel were also injured in the Srinagar encounter.This was the first encounter in Srinagar in more than two years.In another anti-terror operation, two ultras were gunned down by the security forces in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The encounter broke out near Halkan Gali in the Shangus-Larnoo area.Addressing a press conference after the operation, Commander, 2 Sector RR of the Army, Brigadier Anirudh Chauhan, said the slain terrorists belonged to the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) outfit—an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).”We were receiving inputs about the movements of the PAFF group in Anantnag. This group killed Territorial Army Rifleman Hilal (Ahmad Bhat) on October 8. We received an input about their presence in the Larnoo area, and an operation was launched,” Chauhan said.Bhat was among the two soldiers who were allegedly kidnapped by terrorists during search operations in the forest area of Anantnag. While one jawan escaped, Bhat’s body was found in the Kazwan forest area in Kokernag. “Two terrorists were killed. A huge cache of arms and ammunition, including M4 and AK rifles, grenades, and three IEDs (improvised explosive devices), were seized. Both were dreaded terrorists and were involved in several attacks, including on non-locals,” the Army officer said.With inputs from PTI, ANI
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