ANANTNAG: Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants including a district commander were killed in a shoot-out with government forces on late Monday evening in south Kashmir’s Pulwama.
The slain were identified as Irfan Ahmad Sheikh of Naira Pulwama and Irfan Ahmad Rather of Rajpora Pulwama.
Sheikh, who was the outfit’s district commander for Budgam and Pulwama was active since 2017 and was considered to be close aide of Hizb’s Valley chief Riyaz Naikoo.
Rather had joined the outfit recently.
The government forces termed the killing as major successes in anti-militancy operations.
GoC of the army’s victor force Major General Anandya Sen Gupta told reporters that it was a clean and successful operation without any collateral damage.
“We were receiving inputs of militant presence in Drabgam area of Pulwama district and acting on them we laid ambushes in different parts of the area,” he said.
The army officer said at one such ambush at Pachaad Pulwama, a vehicle was asked to stop, but the militants boarding the vehicle opened indiscriminate fire, which resulted in killing one of the militants inside the vehicle.
The hunt was launched for the feeling militants and his body was recovered in the morning, he said.
According to him, the militants had been involved in issuing threats to shopkeepers and other businessmen in different parts of south Kashmir and Srinagar as well.
The bodies were later handed over to their families. Thousands of people attended their funeral prayers in their respective villages.

Suhail A Shah