Srinagar: A search operation was launched by the security forces in Noorabad village of Pulwama’s Tral area on Friday evening but the militants hiding there managed to escape under the cover of darkness, sources said.

The cordon-and-search operation was launched following inputs about the presence of militants in the village, including Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, head of Al-Qaeda’s India cell, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.

Clashes erupted after Musa and his aide were reportedly trapped in a house at Noorpora — his native village in Tral. Villagers poured out of their homes and pelted stones at the security forces after they cordoned off the area, sources said.

Meanhwile, a gunfight broke out between a group of militants and the security forces in Awneera village of southern Shopian district on Saturday evening.

The police said that two to three Hizbul Mujahideen militants were trapped in the area after the troops of the Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles, the J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group and the CRPF laid siege to it.