Five militants killed in encounter with security forces in J-K's Shopian

In one of the biggest gun battles this year, five militants, including a top commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit, were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s restive Shopian district on Sunday.

The gun battle erupted during wee hours of Sunday after a joint team of Army’s Ist Rashtriya Rifles and J&K police launched a cordon-and-search-operation in Reban village of Shopian, following ‘specific inputs’ about the presence of a group of militants in the area.

A police officer said the operation turned into an encounter after hiding militants fired at the search party, which was retaliated. “The firing continued for almost eight to 10 hours during which the security personnel also faced stone throwing. The situation was brought under control by additional forces and suspending the internet,” he said and added that all the five militants hiding in a residential building were killed.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar while confirming the killing of five militants said the operation has ended. Three AK-47 rifles and two pistols were recovered from the encounter site.

Police didn’t reveal the identity of the slain militants as part of a new strategy, where local ultras are quietly buried at faraway places to avoid huge funerals amid COVID-19 pandemic.

However sources identified one of the slain militants as Farooq Asad Nali, a self-styled divisional commander of the Hizbul. He was A++ category militant and had managed to escape from an encounter in the Yaripora area of neighbouring Kulgam district two weeks ago.

There has been an increase in anti-militancy operations in the Valley since March. Since the lockdown, a total of 49 militants and two of their associates have been killed while 24 security forces personnel, including two in ceasefire violations, have lost their lives.

Since the beginning of this year 87 militants have been killed across Kashmir in dozens of encounters with security forces. 154 militants were killed in gun battles across Kashmir in the first seven months of 2019.

In the next five months, only 20 militants were neutralized by the security forces as anti-insurgency operations almost came to a halt as security and communication clampdown was imposed to prevent civilian protests in the wake of revocation of Article 370 on August 5.

Last month J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh had said that less than 240 militants were active in Kashmir.