2 Hizb militants killed in Sopore encounter

Two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Friday.

The militants, including a commander of the outfit, were killed in a joint operation by the   army’s counter-insurgency Kilo Force and Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in Bomai village of Sopore.

Defence spokesman Colonel N N Joshi said after specific information about the presence of militants in the village security forces cordoned off the area in the wee hours and launched a search operation.

“The hiding militants fired upon search party which was retaliated triggering a gunfight in which two militants were killed,” he said, adding that some ammunition was recovered from the encounter site.

Reports said while the encounter was on, youth took to streets and pelted stones on police and para-military forces who were deployed in strength in the area.

The police used tear smoke shells to disperse the protesters who lobbed stones on them.
When report last came in, the bodies of slain militants were lying in the local police station. The sources identified the slain militant as Altaf Ahmad Mir and Imtiyaz Ahmad Lone, both locals belonging to Hizbul.

On Thursday, four militants were killed during a major gun battle in Tangdhar sector along the Line of Control in Kupwara district after Army foiled an infiltration bid. An Army soldier was also killed in the encounter.  In a similar incident on Tuesday a militant and a soldier were killed in neighbouring Machil sector in a gunfight when the Army intercepted a group of militants at Katwara forest area in the sector. Four soldiers were also injured in the Machil gunfight.

The overall improvement of the security scene under way for many years has been stalled since last few months, as infiltration attempts, weapon snatching and other militant  activities are on rise. In the last two years, the complexion of militancy in Kashmir has changed with more and more local youth joining militancy.

For the first time in more than 25 years of conflict, Jammu and Kashmir Police issued an advisory in February this year asking people to stay away from scenes of gunfights. The army also issued a warning in March to crowds hurling stones at security forces during anti-militancy operations in Kashmir.