Two militants have been killed in a gunfight with security forces in a forest range of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday.
“Two militants have been killed so far. The operation is on and may continue till tomorrow [Thursday],” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar told The Hindu.
The police have identified the slain militants as Junaid Shafi from Shopian and Adil Bhat alias Gazi Bhat from Shetipora.
“One slain militant was a deputy chief of LeM and an IED expert,” Mr. Kumar said.
The police said in case any family claimed the killed terrorists to be their kith or kin, they could come forward for their identification. “Arms and ammunition, including two AK rifles and other incriminating materials, were recovered from the site of the encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes,” a police spokesman said.
The encounter broke out in the morning when a joint search party of the Army, the police and the CRPF came under fire from militants hiding in the forests of Shalgul area at Srigufwara area of Anantnag.
The operation to zero in on the militants had been slowed down due to the tough terrain of the forest range, officials said.
“We suspect two to four more militants are hiding in the forest area,” the IGP said.
Mobile Internet had been suspended in Anantnag “as a precautionary measure”.
