Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Oct 22: Two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in a gun battle at Manzimpora in South Kashmir’s Shopian district this evening while a grenade was hurled in Batamaloo area of Srinagar tonight.
Army’s 62 RR and Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a joint cordon-and-search operation in an apple orchards in Manzimpora area of Shopian this afternoon.
Militants hiding in the area opened firing on police and Army leading to a gun battle. Two militants identified as Irshad Ahmad and Adil Khanday of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in the gun battle.
SSP Shopian, Altaf Khan, told Excelsior that two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in the gun battle. He said that they had information about presence of two militants in the area and both were gunned down. He said Adil Khanday was A-category militant and was active in the area for past 3 years and Irshad Ahmad who had done Masters in Islamic Studies was active for one year.
Khan said both the duo was associated with the militant group headed by Burhan Ahmad Wani of Tral and also surfaced in recent videos and photographs released by the outfit.
Srinagar based defence spokesman said that the joint team of Army and police launched operation following specific inputs about the presence of militants.
The spokesman said that contact was established with the militants and a fierce gun battle ensued near a residential area. “The operation was undertaken by the Army with utmost care to ensure safety to the residents of the area with minimum inconvenience to the local,” he said.
The official said that a large quantity of arms, ammunition and other war like stores have been recovered from the slain terrorists. The operation was still going on in the area, the official said.
A grenade was tonight hurled at the house of one Zubair Ahmad Tari, a released militant in Batamaloo area of Srinagar. The grenade exploded in the compound of the house causing damage to window panes. Police immediately reached the spot and have started the investigations.
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