Two terrorists - linked to a recent attack on the CRPF troops - were shot dead in Srinagar on Sunday. In a tweet, the Kashmir Zone police wrote: “Two Pakistani terrorists who were involved in recent terror attack on CRPF Personnel, neutralised in Srinagar encounter. Arms & ammunition, other incriminating materials recovered. (sic)”.

The terrorists “carried out the attack on CRPF on April 4,” Vijay Kumar, IGP, Kashmir, told news agency ANI. “They belonged to Pakistan and were from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Both were gunned down. Our personnel become a soft target of terrorists. Militancy is declining and we'll ensure it dwindles further,” he said.

The latest developments come after a commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, who was involved in several attacks on civilians, including non-locals and security personnel, was killed in an encounter in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir was shot dead on Saturday. Identified as Nisar Ahmad Dar, he was a top ranking commander in the LeT, police said.

A joint search operation was launched by security forces in Sirhama area based on inputs of the presence of terrorists, according to a J&K police spokesperson. “As the search party proceeded towards the spot, the hiding terrorist fired indiscriminately upon the search party, which retaliated, leading to an encounter. In the ensuing encounter, the hiding terrorist was killed and his body was retrieved from the site of encounter,” the spokesperson said

Forty-five terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir since January this year, the Kashmir police told ANI on Saturday.