J&K cop Aashiq Hussain Qureshi killed in first terror attack since Pahalgam killings

A policeman was killed after terrorists opened fire in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag town on Wednesday. The attack took place at around 12.30 pm at Lal Chowk in Anantnag.Anantnag: Security personnel conduct a search operation following a terrorist attack in which a police head constable was killed, in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, Wednesday, July 22. (PTI)This is the first terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since April 22, 2025, when 26 civilians were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack.According to officials, Head Constable Aashiq Hussain Qureshi (Belt No. 20), of the IR 3rd Battalion and a resident of Beerwah in Budgam district, was deployed on Amarnath Yatra security duty when he came under attack.He was rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital in Anantnag, where the attending doctors declared him dead. Further medico-legal proceedings are being carried out as per protocol.Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants,.Reacting to the attack, CPI(M) Central Committee member and Kulgam MLA M Y Tarigami condemned the killing, calling it a "heinous attack" that had "snuffed out a precious life.""Such acts of violence are deeply reprehensible and must be condemned unequivocally. I express my deepest sympathies with the family, friends and colleagues of the slain policeman in this hour of grief," Tarigami said in a post on X.