Srinagar: Six militants associated with Al Qaeda’s India cell, Ansar Ghuzwat-Ul-Hind, were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Tral area of Jammu & Kashmir’s southern Pulwama district on Saturday. The police said all the slain are local Kashmiris.
Ansar Ghuzwat-ul-Hind is headed by a former Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander, Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa. His deputy, Sualihah Muhammad Akhnoon, is among the dead, police sources said. The other slain militants have been identified as Rauf Mir, Nadeem Ahmed Sofi, Rasik Mir, Faisal Javed Khanday and Umar Ramzan.
A police spokesperson said in Srinagar that based on “credible input” about the presence of militants in Arampora village of Tral area in Awantipora belt of Pulwama, a cordon and search operation was launched by security forces to flush them out on Saturday morning. “As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the terrorists. The security forces retaliated, leading to a gunfight”, he said adding that in the ensuing encounter, six militants were killed. No collateral damage has been reported.
Officials said that incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were recovered from the site of the encounter.
Street clashes erupted in some parts of Tral as irate crowds took to the streets to mourn the dead but were confronted by police and other security forces, witnesses said. Later during the day, thousands of mourners attended the funeral of the slain militants.
A statement issued by the police here said that all the six militants were wanted by the law “for their complicity in a series of terror crimes, including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities”.
Meanwhile, Five jawans of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and their counterparts from Jammu & Kashmir police were injured in a grenade attack in Aarwani area of southern Anantnag district on Saturday.
Police sources said that the security forces were leaving Hassanpora village after conducting a cordon-and-search operation when they came under stone-pelting by an irate crowd. They responded by using force, including tear gas, against stone-pelters.
While the clash was on, a grenade was also hurled towards the security forces, leading to injuries.
