Srinagar: Two militants were killed in an encounter with government forces in Srinagar on Friday morning, police said.

The militants were trapped in a house at Alamdar Colony at Saidapora in Eidgah area.

A police spokesperson said that acting on specific information about the presence of militants, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police and CRPF. During the search operation as the presence of militants got ascertained they were given repeated opportunities to surrender but they fired indiscriminately upon the forces which retaliated leading to an encounter in the wee hours.

At dawn, locals in the area and adjoining areas woke up to loud sounds of explosions and gunfire. The sound of blasts and gunfire was heard at a distance and all roads leading to the encounter site were blocked by forces.

This was the second encounter of the month in the city. Earlier, two militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Srinagar’s Maloora area of Parimpora.

Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said that with Friday’s encounter, 78 militants were killed so far this year. Majority (39) of the killed militants, according to him, were affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba followed by Hizbul Mujahideen, Al-Badr, JeM & AuGH.

Police identified the slain militants as Irfan Ahmad Sofi son of Nazir Ahmad Sofi and Bilal Ahmad Bhat son of Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, both residents of Natipora in Srinagar. The duo, described as most wanted in police records, signed up as militants in December 2020.

Police said that The Resistance Front (TRF) shared on social media that the slain had left the outfit and joined ISJK.
“As per police records, both the killed militants were part of groups involved in several terror crimes cases including attacks on Police/SFs and civilian atrocities. Both the slain militants executed a series of attacks on policemen, SFs and civilians besides others,” police said.

They were also charged with lobbing grenades as well as petrol bombs in the city. “Both the slain militants have been instrumental in motivating and recruiting the youth to join militant folds in Srinagar and its adjoining areas,” it added.

At the gunfight site, police recovered 1 AK-47 rifle, 1 pistol and 4 grenades from the slain duo.

Reader correspondent