Security forces demolish houses of two active LeT terrorists in Anantnag

Security forces on Thursday demolished the houses of two active Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, Aadil Ahmad Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganai, during overnight counter-terrorism operations in south Kashmir's Anantnag district. The coordinated action, carried out during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, is part of an intensified security crackdown aimed at dismantling terror-linked infrastructure and support networks across the Valley. Authorities used explosives to demolish the residences of the two terrorists, a day after police constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi was killed in a targeted terrorist attack in Anantnag.

According to official sources, the newly constructed house of Aadil Ahmad Thokar, a resident of Guri village in Anantnag and an active LeT terrorist, was completely destroyed in the early hours of Thursday. This is the second time in just over a year that property belonging to Thokar's family has been demolished. His ancestral house was also blown up three days after the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack. That action was part of a wider crackdown in which security forces demolished 16 houses across Kashmir that were allegedly linked to active terrorists following the attack on tourists in Pahalgam.

In a separate operation during the same night, security forces demolished the single-storey residence of Haroon Rashid Ganai, son of Abdul Rashid Ganai, a resident of Hassanpora Tawella in Bijbehara. Officials said Ganai has been associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba since 2018. The demolition was carried out jointly by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Army's 1 Rashtriya Rifles, and the 90 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The operations came in the wake of Wednesday's targeted terrorist attack in Lal Chowk, Anantnag, in which police constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi was shot dead while on security duty. Qureshi was part of the security deployment for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. Following the attack, security agencies intensified counter-terror operations across Jammu and Kashmir. As part of the ongoing crackdown, nearly 3,000 suspected overground workers (OGWs) and other suspects have been detained for questioning. Security has also been significantly reinforced across the Kashmir Valley, particularly along the Amarnath Yatra route.