Two JeM militants killed in encounter in J&K

Two militants -- Qari Zubair, a Pakistani national and Imran, a local resident -- were killed in the fierce gun battle with a joint team of police and Army, official sources said.

They said the encounter occurred following specific information about the presence of a group of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) militants in a house in Keller in the south Kashmir district, following which the area was cordoned off.

The house where the militants had taken shelter caught fire and was gutted, the sources said.Meanwhile, security forces today recovered the body of a Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) militant from the site of the gun battle on May 24 in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, raising the number of militants killed in the operation to two, officials said.

The body of the unidentified LeT militant was recovered from the debris of one of the four residential houses which were gutted during the fierce encounter at Shatigam Ganai village of Handwara, 80 kms from here, they said.

Police assisted by Rashtriya Rifles had launched a joint operation in the village on Tuesday evening and came under fire from the hiding militants, triggering a gun fight which ended yesterday.

Four houses and a cowshed were destroyed in the encounter and later the search of the debris led to recovery of the body of a LeT militant and some arms and ammunition, the officials said.

The search of debris continued for the second day today during which the body of second militant was recovered, they said.