Three Hizbul militants killed in Kashmir's Shopian

Three Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in a brief encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday.

Reports said the gun battle started after a joint team of Army's 55 Rashtriya Rifles and special operations group (SOG) of Jammu & Kashmir police launched a cordoned-and-search-operation (CASO) in Wachi village of Shopian, 56 km from here, during wee hours of Monday after 'specific input' about presence of militants in the area.

"As the searches were going on in the area, the hiding militants fired upon the security forces and in the retaliatory action three ultras were killed," a police official said and added the slain militants were affiliated with the Hizbul outfit.

Arms and ammunition, including AK 47 rifles, have been recovered from the encounter site, police said.

On January 12, three more Hizbul militants were killed in a similar encounter with security forces in neighbouring Pulwama district. Earlier on January 7, a teenage militant, who had joined militancy just a week before, was killed in an encounter in Awantipora.

Since August 5, when the Center abrogated Jammu & Kashmir's special status under Article 370, only 13 encounters have been reported across Jammu & Kashmir in which 27 militants have been killed.

The twin districts of Shopian and Pulwama in south Kashmir came under the radar of security forces immediately after the killing of Hizbul's poster boy, Burhan Wani, in July 2016. Prior to that, a Facebook photo that marked the arrival of new-age militancy in Kashmir was taken in Turkwangam village of Shopian in July 2015. The photo featured Burhan posing with 12 associates, carrying assault rifles without any face masks.

After the killing of Burhan, the twin districts remained out of bounds for security forces due to the relentless protests for nearly seven months, with militants seen moving around freely and posting their videos as well.

Such is the influence of militants in the two districts that less than 3% of voters exercised their franchise in last year's Lok Sabha polls. Pulwama and Shopian are part of the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency.

The topography of Pulwama and Shopian mixed with people openly espousing the separatist cause and young boys proudly talking of their “heroes”, who died for a cause, made it an ideal ground for militants to make them as their bases.

A top police official said the twin districts were on the radar of security agencies to ensure that top leadership of militants is wiped out. "During summers, dense apple orchards and nearby forests give militants an advantage as they often give a slip to security forces when CASOs are launched," he said.

However, the officer said, as the security forces launched an offensive against militants since 2017, space is shrinking for them in the two districts. "Not only local recruitment has come down, but there has been a drastic decline in protests by civilians during gunfights and funerals of militants," he said and added that flow of local intelligence is also pouring all-time high.