On Wednesday night, a joint team of J-K Police, Army and paramilitary forces cordoned off the Teliyan neighbourhood of Sopore town after receiving specific inputs about the presence of militants. (Representational) On Wednesday night, a joint team of J-K Police, Army and paramilitary forces cordoned off the Teliyan neighbourhood of Sopore town after receiving specific inputs about the presence of militants. (Representational)

Two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants were killed in an encounter in north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Thursday, police said. While two Aadhaar cards have been recovered from the militants, police said that they were foreigners.

“From the incriminating material recovered from the encounter site, the killed terrorists have been identified as foreigners namely Ali alias Athar and Zia-ur-Rehman,” police said. “They were affiliated to proscribed terror outfit JeM.”

Ali was a top Jaish commander who was behind the IED blast in Sopore on January 6 in which four policemen were killed, police said. Both militants were involved in attacks on security establishments, police said.

On Wednesday night, a joint team of J-K Police, Army and paramilitary forces cordoned off the Teliyan neighbourhood of Sopore town after receiving specific inputs about the presence of militants.

As the joint team zeroed in on the target house on Thursday, militants opened fire and tried to break the security cordon. The joint team retaliated, triggering an encounter in which both the trapped militants were killed.

According to the Aadhaar cards recovered from the militants, the two were residents of Kupwara, identified as Sahil Ahmad Dar and Mohd Yaseen, police said, adding that they are trying to ascertain how the Aadhaar cards were procured.

While Sopore town is seen as a militant stronghold, Thursday’s encounter was the first in the town in over four years.

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