Four Hizbul militants killed in Kashmir’s Kulgam

Four local militants affiliated with the indigenous Hizbul Mujahideen outfit were killed, while three army personnel were injured in an encounter between security forces and ultras in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday morning.

The gun battle began at 5.30 am in Hardmanguri village of Kulgam, 85 Km from Srinagar, where the militants were hiding in a house in the middle of an apple orchard. Sources said Army’s 34-Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and J&K police had cordoned off the village during the night after a ‘specific input’ about the presence of militants in the area.

“Early in the morning, hiding militants fired upon the security forces party and in the retaliatory action four ultras were killed,” they said.

However, sources said after the house was set on fire, militants ran out into the lawn of the house where three of them were killed and another one took refuge in a nearby house which belonged to one Abdul Aziz Lone.

“The fourth militant was killed in that house while the house was also substantially damaged,” a local source said.

The slain militants were identified as Ashraf Malik, Aijaz Naik, Shahid Malik and Waqar Ahmad, all locals affiliated with the Hizb-ul.

There, however, were reports that another militant, the fifth one was trapped in the area. General Officer Commanding (GOC) Victor Force, A Sen Gupta told reporters that search was on for the fifth militant.

“We have retrieved four bodies and search was on for the fifth one,” he said in a press briefing.

According to the police, this was the same group of militants who were involved in the killings of four civilians in Kulgam and Anantnag in the past 12 days. The police said that the attacks on the civilians happened while authorities were preoccupied with abating the threat of coronavirus.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said that this group of militants had been operating from the area for several years and confirmed that they were also the ones who killed the civilians.

Notably, this was the first encounter in Kulgam district after a gap of around 11 months and first across Kashmir since lockdown was imposed to prevent spread of coronavirus.