Two militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir gunfight

Srinagar: Two militants were killed and a third one surrendered before security forces as a firefight that began on Saturday evening in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Shopian district ended on Sunday.

The fighting broke out hours after home minister, Rajnath Singh began a 4-day visit of the restive state.

The officials said that the encounter started after the security forces, including the J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Army’s 44 Rashtriya Rifles launched a cordon-and-search operation in Shopian’s Barbugh Imam Sahib area following specific information about the presence of militants.

They said that during the search operation, the militants hiding in the area opened fire at the security forces, triggering the encounter. “Two terrorists, identified as Altaf Ahmed Rather, a resident of Shopian’s Awneera Zainapora village and Tariq Ahmed Bhat of Barbugh were killed. Their third accomplice, Adil Hussain Dar, a resident of Chitripora, Shopian, surrendered,” a statement issued by the police said, adding,  the slain militants were involved in a number of terror attacks, including the attack on J&K policemen and the Army besides a bank robbery.

In the second clash, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s district commander for Baramulla, Shahid Ahmed Sheikh, alias Shabir, was killed in Reban area outside northwestern town of Sopore on Sunday.

While the home minister was holding meetings with government functionaries, the security forces and various stakeholders in summer capital Srinagar, the militants killed a J&K policeman Imtiyaz Ahmed and critically injured another, Shakeel Ahmed, 55 kilometres away in the southern Anantnag town the same day.

The encounters took place on a day when Union home minister Rajnath Singh began a four-day visit of the restive state to hold a series of meetings to review the law and order situation and the pace of development works being executed under the Prime Minister’s development package.