Kashmir: 4 Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists killed, 2 army personnel injured in gun-battle

Four local terrorists affiliated with the indigenous outfit Hizbul Mujahideen were killed, while two army personnel were injured in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday morning. The gunbattle began at 6:10 am in Hardmanguri village of Kulgam, 82 km from Srinagar city, where the militants were hiding in a house in the middle of an apple orchard. 

Sources close to ‘Republic media Network’, said Army’s 34-Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and SoG Kulgam had cordoned off the village during the night after a ‘specific input’ about the presence of terrorists in the area.

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“Early in the morning, hiding militants fired upon the security forces and in the retaliatory action four ultras were killed,” they said. However, sources further added that after the house was set on fire, the terrorists  ran out into the lawn of the house where three of them were killed and another one took refuge in a nearby house which belonged to one namely Abdul Aziz Lone.

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''The fourth militant was killed in that house while the house was also substantially damaged,” sources further said. The slain terrorists was identified as Ashraf Malik, Aijaz Naik, Shahid Malik and Waqar Ahmad, all locals affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen.

However, there were reports that another militant, the fifth one was trapped in the area. General Officer Commanding (GOC) Victor Force, A Sen Gupta said during a press conference. “We have recovered four dead bodies and search was on for the fifth one,” he said.

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According to the Jammu and Kashmir police, this was the same group of militants who were involved in the killings of four civilians in Kulgam and Anantnag in the past 12 days. The police said that the attacks on the civilians happened while authorities were preoccupied with abating the threat of coronavirus.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police, Dilbag Singh said that this group of militants had been operating from the area for several years and confirmed that they were also the ones who killed the civilians.

Pertinently, this was the first encounter in Kulgam district after a gap of around 11 months and first across Kashmir since lockdown was imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

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