J&K: 2 Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants killed in Tral firefight

SRINAGAR: Two militants belonging to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit were killed in a firefight with the security forces in Tral area of Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Pulwama district on Tuesday.

The slain men have been identified by the police as Adfar Fayaz Parray and Irfan Ahmed Rather, both local residents.

The police said that the duo was involved in “conspiring and executing several attacks and was wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of crimes including attacks on security establishments and civilian atrocities.”

The police also said that the fighting broke out during a cordon-and-search operation launched by the security forces at Reshipora in Tral town following “credible input” about the presence of militants in a private house of the area. “As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the terrorists. The fire was retaliated, leading to a gunfight,” a police spokesman said in a statement here.

The house in which the militants had been holed up was blasted by the security forces in their final assault, sources added.

During the operation, a civilian identified as Farooq Ahmad Malik (45) was injured.