india

Updated: Jun 03, 2019 18:33 IST

A militant and his associate were killed in a brief encounter which began after security forces flagged down their vehicle at a checkpoint in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Sunday night, police said on Monday.

Security forces intercepted an SUV in the night at a checkpoint on Turkawangom road at Mool Chitragam in Shopian. A police spokesman said that militants in the vehicle opened fire at security forces who retaliated.

“One terrorist identified as Firdous Ahmad Bhat and an active associate Sajad Ahmad who was driving the vehicle were killed in the retaliatory fire,” the spokesman said. “One terrorist taking advantage of darkness managed to flee from spot.”

Both of the slain men were the residents of nearby Kulgam district.

The police, quoting records, said that Firdous Bhat was a “listed terrorist” but did not reveal to which group he belonged.

The bodies of both the men were handed over to their legal heirs after completion of medico-legal formalities.

Security forces have killed 101 militants and their associates in counterinsurgency operations in the first five months of the year, most of them after acting on intelligence inputs provided by informants, police officials said.

This includes 25 foreign militants and 76 locals, belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e- Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.

In 2018 and 2017, from January to May, security forces had managed to kill 70 and 57 militants, respectively.

Most counter-insurgency operations were executed in south Kashmir’s four districts – Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag.

On May 23, security forces gunned down the Valley’s most wanted militant commander, Zakir Musa, 25, who had formed the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in south Kashmir. Musa, who was active in South Kashmir’s Tral area, was a close associate of Burhan Wani.

In the first five months, 61 security personnel were killed by militants, and they included the 40 CRPF personnel who died in a suicide car bombing in Pulwama on February 14. The Jaish had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack.