Shopian: Five militants including four from Shopian were killed in two separate encounters at different villages of south Kashmir’s Shopian district within the last 18 hours. All the five militants according to police were affiliated with The Resistance front (TRF).

On Monday afternoon a joint team of government forces including 34 Rashtriya Rifles of army, 178th battalion of central reserve police force (CRPF) and police launched a cordon and search operation at Tulran village, some nine kilometers away from district headquarter of Shopian.

After four hours of thorough searches, contact with hiding militants which were three in number was established around 7:30 pm.

Government forces appealed to the trapped militants to lay down the arms. However, they refused to do so and all of them were later killed without any damage to the government forces.

Locals from the village said that around 10 pm on Monday night, the residential house in which militants were hiding was set on fire. By Tuesday morning, police declared all the three militants dead in the encounter.

One residential house was destroyed during the encounter and another house has also sustained predominant damages. Several apple boxes were also damaged during the firefight.

The slain militants in Tulran encounter were identified as Danish Hussain Dar resident Ray- Kaprin village, Yawar Hussain Naikoo Pehlipora village, both in Shopian and Mukhtar Hussain Shah resident of Sindbal village of Ganderbal district.

Police said Mukhtar Shah was involved in the targeted killing of a non-local vendor at Lal Bazar area of Srinagar on the evening of October 5.

Meanwhile on Tuesday morning another encounter took place at Firpora village of the district in which two more militants were killed in an encounter with government forces.

According to police sources a cordon and search operation was launched by joint team of government forces including army’s 34 Rashtriya Rifles of army, 14th battalion CRPF and Police in the village on specific inputs about the presence of militants in the area.

After more than 12 hours of searches, contact with hiding militants which were two in number was established when a search party according to police headed towards the suspected spot and militants fired upon them which was retaliated ensuing into an encounter.

Raashid Hassan