Two Hizbul militants killed in Kashmir’s Tral

Two militants affiliated with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit were killed and a civilian injured in a gunfight between security forces and ultras in restive Tral area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Tuesday.

A police spokesperson said based on a credible input about the presence of militants in Mir Mohalla Tral, 42 kms from here, a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) was launched by the army and police during wee hours of Tuesday.

“As the searches were going on, militants fired upon which was retaliated by the forces leading to a gunfight. In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were killed,” he said and added the slain militants were affiliated with the Hizbul and were wanted by the law for their complicity in several cases

A civilian, identified as Farooq Ahmad was also injured during the gunfight who was rushed to SMHS hospital in Srinagar.

The spokesperson identified the slain militants as Adfar Fayaz Parray and Irfan Ahmad Rather, both residents of Tral. “According to the police records, the slain were affiliated with proscribed outfit Hizbul. They were involved in conspiring and executing several attacks and were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of crimes including the attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” he said.

There has been a huge increase in violence in recent weeks in Kashmir. Last Sunday, a deputy superintendent of police (DySP) Aman Thakur and an army man lost their lives in an encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in Kulgam district of south Kashmir.

On February 18, four soldiers, including an army Major and three Jaish militants, one of them being suspected of having plotted February 14 Pulwama suicide bomb attack, and a civilian were killed in 18 hour-long gunfight in Pinglina village of south Kashmir’s volatile Pulwama district.

Ten security forces’ personnel, including a brigadier and a lieutenant colonel and a deputy inspector general of the Jammu and Kashmir police, were also injured in that gunfight.

Earlier, on February 14, Adil Ahmad Dar, a 21-year-old local militant, had rammed a car packed with huge explosives into a CRPF convoy killing 49 paramilitary personnel and injuring dozens of others. It was the deadliest single attack on security forces in Kashmir. Jaish, the terror group that operates from Pakistan, had claimed responsibility for the attack.