Seven militants, including terror outfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind’s chief Imtiaz Ahmad Shah, were gunned down by security forces in two encounters in Shopian and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said on Friday.
“Five terrorists have been killed in a Shopian operation, while two others were killed in the encounter at Nowbugh in Tral area of Pulwama district,” a police officer said.
Earlier, the Kashmir Zone Police had said that efforts were being made to get two militants hiding inside a mosque in Shopian after an overnight encounter to surrender.
“Brother of holed up terrorist and local imamsahab sent inside mosque to persuade the terrorists to come out and surrender. Efforts are on to save the mosque,” the police had said in a tweet.
They had also tweeted about the Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGuH) chief being trapped inside the mosque.
The encounter in Shopian town broke out on Thursday evening and giving an update about the operation on the same day, the police had said that three militants had been killed and four security forces personnel injured.
Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar told reporters that AGuH chief Imtiaz Shah, who was active since 2019, was actually killed in the gunbattle at Tral in Pulwama district. “While laying a cordon in Shopian, two militants managed to escape after hurling a grenade.”
