Two Hizbul Mujahideen Militants Killed in an Encounter in Kashmir's Pulwama

Two local militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen have been killed in an encounter in Khrew in Pulwama district.

The two, according to Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police Kashmir, are from the hit squad of Hizbul.

Police identified one of the slain militants as Musaib Mushtaq of Khrew saying he was involved in the killing of a peon at Government Higher Secondary School, Pastuna on July 23 this year. It is not clear why the peon was killed..

“Out of the two slain militants, it was Musaib Mushtaq who killed Javid Ahmad Malik, a school peon,” Kumar said, adding they will be identifying the second militant soon.

Kumar said the two were part of a hit squad of Hizbul mujahideen responsible for civilian killings in south Kashmir.

One AK rifle and a pistol was recovered from the encounter site. The encounter started soon after police and army laid a siege around the area where militants were hiding during the midnight. Soon a gunfight broke out and eventually in the wee hours of the morning, two militants were killed. One structure was damaged in the gunfight that lasted for four to five hours.

The encounter came hours after militants had lobbed a grenade in Srinagar’s old locality Saraf Kadal injuring two cops and a civilian on Thursday. The three injured were hospitalised.

An Apni party functionary was shot in his house in Devsar, Kulgam by militants belonging to The Resistence Front (TRF) on Thursday evening. The TRF which has claimed killing of atleast three political workers including a man-wife BJP members – repeated it threat to target “those who were harming the Kashmir movement.” In the last 11 days, the outfit carried out three deadly attacks on the BJP and Apni Party workers.

Militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir have hiked considerably in the last few weeks. Political killings, encounters with security forces – of late in Rajouri district across the Pir Panjal – have seen a surge in fatalities of civilians, militants and security forces.

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