Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 3: Three militants of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in an overnight gun battle with security forces in Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Police said that three militants were killed in the encounter that broke out last evening at Mir Mohalla in Dadsara village of Tral. The dead militants have been identified as Aasif Yousuf of Dadsara Tral, Ishaq Parray of Laribal Tral and Aashiq Hussain of Chersoo village of Awantipora.
Ishaq Ahmad, 20, was being called as Newton for his meritorious academic record as he had scored 98.4 percent in his 10th class examinations in 2011. The slain was preparing for CET when he left his home and joined militancy last year.
Army’s 42 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on a specific information about the presence of three HM militants cordoned off Dadsara village last evening. As they were conducting searches during the operation militants opened fire from a residential house on them leading to a gun battle.
Troops put the operation on hold last night and tightened the cordon around the village to prevent militants from fleeing. They launched an assault on the house at around 3 pm killing all the three militants.
The house was damaged in the encounter and three AK-47 rifles were recovered from the encounter site. Army said that Ashiq Hussain had provided shelter to the LeT militants who carried out the attack on BSF at Udhampur last year.
Security forces this year achieved major success against militants in Kashmir killing 20 militants including 15 from LeT and 5 of Hizbul Mujahideen so far. This is highest number of militants killed in the first over 60 days in recent years.
The killings of three militants triggered protests in Tral and Awantipora areas by locals who resorted to stone-pelting on security forces amid a shutdown in the area.
Soon after bodies of three militants were handed over to their families, people in large numbers gathered at the militants’ native villages for attending funerals.
Stone-pelting clashes broke out at several places including Tral Town, Dadsara and Chursoo between forces and angry youths after the funerals of the slain militants during which police fired scores of teargas shells. Police, however, said the situation in both Awantipora and Tral is under control.
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