Srinagar: Two JeM militants, including a
self-styled divisional commander of the outfit, were on Thursday
killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian
district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Two militants -- Qari Zubair, a Pakistani national and
Imran, a local resident -- were killed in the fierce gun
battle with a joint team of police and Army, official sources
said.
They said the encounter occurred following specific
information about the presence of a group of Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JEM) militants in a house in Keller in the south Kashmir
district, following which the area was cordoned off.
The house where the militants had taken shelter caught
fire and was gutted, the sources said.
Meanwhile, security forces today recovered the body of a
Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) militant from the site of the gun battle
on May 24 in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, raising the
number of militants killed in the operation to two, officials
said.
The body of the unidentified LeT militant was recovered
from the debris of one of the four residential houses which
were gutted during the fierce encounter at Shatigam Ganai
village of Handwara, 80 kms from here, they said.
Police assisted by Rashtriya Rifles had launched a joint
operation in the village on Tuesday evening and came under
fire from the hiding militants, triggering a gun fight which
ended yesterday.
Four houses and a cowshed were destroyed in the encounter
and later the search of the debris led to recovery of the body
of a LeT militant and some arms and ammunition, the officials
said.
The search of debris continued for the second day today
during which the body of second militant was recovered, they
said.
PTI
