Srinagar: Two local militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in a brief gunfight in south Kashmir’s volatile Pulwama district today, triggering day-long clashes that left nearly a dozen injured.
Srinagar: Two local militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in a brief gunfight in south Kashmir’s volatile Pulwama district today, triggering day-long clashes that left nearly a dozen injured.
The gunfight erupted when security forces launched a search operation at Tahab village of Pulwama, some 38 km from Srinagar, after an input about the presence of militants in a residential area in the wee hours.
“As the search operation was being carried out, the hiding militants fired upon the security forces to break the cordon. The security forces retaliated, triggering a brief gunfight in which two local militants of Hizb were killed,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Mohammad Aslam told The Tribune.” An Army man was also injured in the gunfight and his condition is stable,” he said.
The two slain militants were identified as Shariq Ahmad of Gulzarpur Awantipora and Showkat Ahmed, alias Shabir, of Mihind, Anantnag. The SSP said the duo had joined militancy this year.
The Army claimed the two slain militants were threatening government officials and politicians in the area.
“These terrorists were threatening government officials and politicians and based on this input, an operation was launched. They were given a chance to surrender, instead, they fired heavily,” Brigadier Harbir Singh, Commander of 12 Sector, told reporters after the gunfight.
Intense clashes erupted in the district after the gunfight ended as youths tried to march towards the encounter site. In the clashes, nearly a dozen protesters were injured. One of the injured received a bullet in chest. Internet services were also suspended in the district following the killing of the militants.
A large number of people attended the funeral of the Shariq where a top militant commander of Hizb, Riyaz Naikoo, addressed the mourners. Naikoo, according to eyewitnesses, asked the people “not to fall in Al-Qaida trap as it was aimed at defaming the Kashmir struggle.”
In his nearly four-minute speech, Naikoo did not mention name of his former associate Zakir Musa, who was recently named as the head of Al-Qaida affiliate in Kashmir. Naikoo also raised pro-Pakistan slogans before leaving the venue.
