Operation Keller: Huge arms haul recovered in J&K's Shopian after elimination of 3 LeT terrorists - All you need to know
NEW DELHI: A day after eliminating three
Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT) terrorists in a fierce encounter, security forces on Wednesday recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir's
Shopian
district.
The weapons, comprising AK-series rifles, grenades, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, were found in the dense forests of Shoekal Keller, where the terrorists had been hiding before the confrontation.
The recovery followed a joint
counterterrorism operation
led by the
Indian Army
, CRPF, and J&K Police under,
Operation Keller
.
Acting on intelligence inputs received by the Rashtriya Rifles, security forces launched a swift cordon and search mission in the upper reaches of Shopian, approximately 80 km from Srinagar.
On Tuesday, three militants affiliated with the Pakistan-backed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba were gunned down after a brief but intense firefight. Among the dead were two local youths from Shopian, Shahid Kuttay and Adnan Shafi Dar, whose family homes were demolished using explosives. Both had been involved in recent terror activities in the region.
"Based on inputs by intelligence agencies about presence of terrorists in the Keller Forest of Shopian District, J\&K, a joint operation was launched by Indian Army, J&K Police and CRPF on 13 May 2025, resulting in neutralisation of three hardcore terrorists including the local commander of LeT/TRF after an intense encounter. The three were actively involved in recent terror activities in the region. Recoveries from the operation include AK series rifles, large quantity of ammunition, grenades and other war like stores. The success of this operation is the result of an excellent synergy between all Security Forces and Intelligence Agencies. Indian Army remains unwavering in its mission to eliminate terror. Every attempt to disrupt peace will be met with decisive and unrelenting force," the Indian Army said in a statement.
Operation Keller came in the backdrop of massive terror hunt launched by Indian armed forces. On April 22 , Pakistan-sponsored terror attack in Pahalgam took place, which claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the Valley.
In response, India launched
Operation Sindoor
, a coordinated retaliatory strike on May 7 that targeted nine terrorist launchpads across Pakistan and PoK.
These precision airstrikes destroyed 9 key terror infrastructure, including high-value targets, Jaish-e-Mohammed's Bahawalpur headquarters and Lashkar-e-Taiba's key bastion in Muridke, in mainland Pakistan.
While authorities have not yet confirmed whether the militants killed in Shopian had direct links to the Pahalgam massacre, investigations are ongoing.
Meanwhile, security forces remain on high alert in the region. Despite the ceasefire announced last week between India and Pakistan, counterinsurgency efforts within Kashmir continue at full scale.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
24 minutes ago
- First Post
Donald Trump lands in Canada, returns to G7 Summit he once loathed
US President Donald Trump arrived in Canada on Sunday to attend the G7 Leaders' Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Alberta. read more US President Donald Trump arrived in Canada on Sunday to attend the G7 Leaders' Summit , which is scheduled to take place in Alberta on Monday. Trump returned to an international summit amid escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, which is likely to dominate the agenda. During the three-day gathering in the mountain town of Kananaskis, world leaders would attempt to convince Trump to ease his Tariff policy. The summit will also feature Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will arrive in Canada after his trip to Croatia and Cyprus. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This is a developing story.
Indian Express
36 minutes ago
- Indian Express
June 16, 1985, Forty Years Ago: ‘Quit Nagaland'
THERE IS panic in Kohima in the wake of the 'Quit Nagaland' notice served by the Naga Students Federation on Assamese living in the state, following clashes between the police forces of the two states. There were 4,500 Assamese working in the Nagaland government. There are reports of people being asked to produce their inner line permits. The notice comes in the wake of the arrest of five NSF office-bearers who went to the Assam side. Iran attacks Iraq IRAN SAID ITS ground forces had launched a new major invasion in Iraq's southern Huwaiza marshlands and were now 'six kilometres from the key Baghdad highway'. The invaders had seized 100 square km and were now 'coming into the area' to purge it of Iraqi resistance. Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded, and others taken prisoner. The invasion carrying the name of 'Jerusalem' was launched in retaliation for Iraqi air force and ground missile attacks on 15 cities that claimed 550 civilian lives. No shift in policy PRIME MINISTER RAJIV Gandhi has denied that there was any shift in India's economic policy. Answering questions at a meeting with the representatives of the US Chamber of Commerce, Gandhi said there were some misconceptions about the nature of the Indian economy and socialism. In India, where millions of people were below the subsistence level, 'you cannot profess that a capitalist system will solve all problems,' he said. Guerrillas killed EIGHTEEN TAMIL GUERRILLAS were killed and about 20 were injured when security forces raided a rebel camp in Sri Lanka's Mannar district. Security officials believe guerrillas from the camp were responsible for last month's massacre of about 150 Sinhalese civilians in and near the Buddhist holy city of Anuradhapura and other attacks.
The Hindu
39 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Why have special economic zones rules been relaxed?
The story so far: The Government of India has been taking various steps to boost the production of semiconductors and electronics in India, in a bid to reduce our dependence on imports. Some previous measures include the Semicon India programme launched in 2022 with an outlay of ₹76,000 crore. Now, the government has gone a step further and has relaxed key rules related to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to further encourage the domestic manufacture of semiconductors and electronics. Why are semiconductors important? Semiconductors lie at the heart of an increasingly electronic society, with AI and machine learning only the latest in a long trend of increased digitisation and automation. Semiconductors are the tiny chips processing vast amounts of information that make all of these processes possible, in one's phone, computer, tablet, smart TV, smart speaker, car, and every other electronic gadget. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, China accounted for about 35% of all semiconductors manufactured in the world in 2021. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the world, including India, realised that the concentration of supply chains in one country posed huge risks for any country dependent on those supplies. Therefore, they started trying to boost the domestic manufacture of such key components. What are the latest steps by the Indian government? On June 9, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that it had notified several modifications to the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Rules, 2006, a week earlier, to enhance the domestic manufacture of semiconductors. One of these tweaks was to Rule 5, which dealt with the size of the SEZ. Earlier, an SEZ set up exclusively for the manufacture of semiconductors or electronic components needed a minimum contiguous land area of 50 hectares. This has now been significantly reduced to 10 hectares. This reduced size will allow companies to make smaller investments but still avail of SEZ benefits such as tax exemptions, duty-free imports, and infrastructure support. Another amendment to Rule 7 of the SEZ Rules now allows the Board of Approval for SEZs to relax the condition that had required SEZ land to be 'encumbrance-free'. Land is deemed to be encumbrance-free if it does not have any legal claims, liens, or charges against it, and when clear title of ownership and transfer can be established. With India's complicated and often-archaic land record mechanisms, and lengthy legal processes, such a requirement would have stymied a lot of SEZs. Relaxing this rule will allow SEZs to come up faster. A third amendment was to Rule 18, allowing SEZ units in semiconductor and electronics component manufacturing to supply domestically, after paying the applicable duties. Conventionally, SEZs are exclusively export-oriented. Allowing domestic sales not only shields the SEZs from the ongoing global trade uncertainty, but also ensures a steady supply to the domestic market itself. What has been the impact? Given the changes are so recent, one can't immediately establish long-term impacts. However, following the tweaks, two new SEZs have already been approved with a total investment of ₹13,100 crore. Micron Semiconductor Technology India will establish an SEZ facility in Sanand, Gujarat for the manufacture of semiconductors with an estimated investment of ₹13,000 crore, while Hubballi Durable Goods Cluster, a part of the Aequs Group, will establish an SEZ facility for the manufacture of electronic components in Dharwad, Karnataka, at a cost of ₹100 crore. Micron's plant is to be 37.64 hectares in area and the Aequs plant is expected to be 11.55 hectares.
