NEW DELHI, 31 January 2022, (TON): Police said “Indian troops on Sunday claimed to kill five fighters, reportedly including a top commander from the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group, in stepped-up anti-militancy operations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).”

Kashmir Police chief Vijay Kumar told media “the fighters were killed in two separate overnight operations by Indian troops south of Srinagar.”

Kumar allegedly claimed “we had launched two separate operations on the basis of inputs about the presence of militants in these areas last night. Five militants, including JeM commander, Zahid Wani, and a Pakistani national, Kafeel, were killed in these two operations.”

Kumar said “a police officer was shot to death by fighters outside his residence Saturday evening in the south of Srinagar.”

In January, 21 fighters have been killed across IIOJK, according to police.

Last year, the region witnessed a wave of civilian killings, with fighters seemingly targeting non-Kashmiris, including migrant workers, and members of the minority Hindu and Sikh communities in the Muslim-majority valley.