Anantnag: Five militants were killed in two separate gunfights with government forces in south Kashmir, police said on Tuesday. Three of them were killed in a gunfight in Pulwama district while two others were slain in an overnight gunfight in Shopian district.
Both the militants slain in the Shopian gunfight have been identified as locals, Tawseef Ahmad Khanday of Yaripora area in Kulgam district, and Umer Thoker, a resident of Sugenpora village in Kulgam district.
“Both of them were Hizbul Mujahideen militants and were involved in attacks in the Kulgam Shopian area,” a police official said. “Their bodies have been sent for medico-legal formalities, following which they will be sent to Baramulla for burial, keeping in view the COVID-19 protocol.”
The militants killed in the Pulwama gunfight were yet to be identified when this report was filed.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar has confirmed the killing of three militants in Pulwama and has said that the slain militants belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
“They were involved in the attack on security forces in Gangoo area of Pulwama on Monday,” Kumar told a local news gathering agency.
Two CRPF personnel had received injuries in the attack when militants opened fire at a joint party of police and paramilitary force Monday morning. Today, at around 1:00 PM, a cordon and search operation was launched in Hakripora area soon after a tipoff about militant presence was received.
“While the area was being cordoned the militants opened indiscriminate fire, which was duly retaliated and initially two militants were gunned down,” a senior police officer from the area said.
He said that the third militant was given an option to lay down his arms but he did not yield and kept firing. “He, too, was killed following a brief gunfight,” the officer said.
He added that the area was being combed to look for presence of any other militant. “For now the bodies of the militants have been retrieved but their identities are yet to be ascertained,” he said.
The officer said that a detailed press release will be issued soon after the gunfight is over.
In Shopian meanwhile, the gunfight had erupted in Melhoora area late Monday evening. The militants were hiding in an orchard area and a gunfight ensued soon after the government forces laid siege to the area.
“One of the militants was killed later in the evening. The operation had to be suspended due to darkness and was resumed in wee hours, when the second militant was gunned down,” a senior police officer from Shopian district said.
He said that arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 and a pistol, were retrieved from the bodies of the militants. “The operation was called off after a combing operation was concluded,” he said.
Earlier this year two encounters took place in Melhoora village, wherein five militants including a top commander of Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, Burhan Koka, were killed.
The village is located some 25 kilometers from the district headquarter of Shopian, towards Bijbehara area in Anantnag district.
Today’s encounter is the second since October 14 when two militants were killed in a brief gunfight at Chakoora village of the district.

Suhail A Shah