Kashmir: Another militant killed in Pulwama, toll mounts to 2

A senior police officer said both the slain were affiliated with Al Badr and were involved in a series of recent attacks on non local labourers in the district.

Police said the gun battle erupted Wednesday evening at Mitrigam area of Pulwama during a cordon and a search operation in the area following an input about militant presence.

“As the security forces were laying cordon around the suspected spot, the terrorists opened indiscriminate fire which was retaliated triggering a gunfight. In the ensuing gunfight two terrorists have been killed,” a police officer said, adding a soldier was also wounded in the initial gunfight.

After the initial exchange of fire, the operation was halted for evacuation of civilians, police said.

A senior police officer said both the slain were locals.

"Both killed terrorists identified as local terrorists namely Aijaz Hafiz & Shahid Ayub, of Al-Badr outfit. 02 AK rifles recovered. They had been involved in a series of attacks on outside labourers in Pulwama in the month of March-April 2022," Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar was quoted in a police tweet.

On Wednesday police had said the two to three militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad including a foreigner were trapped in the area.

This is the 13th gun battle in Kashmir this month. In the previous dozen gunfights 20 militants have been killed.

Four security men have also lost their lives in line of duty in April.