KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Three militants were killed in an encounter that broke out on Wednesday evening between militants and government forces in Dadsara village of Tral area in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police sources said.
The slain militants, affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen, were identified as Asif Ahmad Mir of Dadsara, Mohammad Ishaq Ahmad Parray of Laribal and Ashiq Ahmad Mir of Chersoo.
Ishaq, who was known in his village as Newton for being a brilliant student, had joined militancy last year.
Sources said this is the first encounter in which the forces continued operations and firing on the militants during the night to end it before protesters gathered near the encounter site in the morning.
“Security forces wanted to end the operation during the night to not give a chance to people to gather and protest in the morning. Such a situation creates huge trouble for us,” a police official said.
“As the joint team was zeroing-in on the target house, the holed up militants opened fire resulting in an encounter which lasted several hours,” a police official said.
Protests had erupted Wednesday evening at the encounter site as soon as the forces cordoned off the area.
Meanwhile, police said that the bodies of the slain militants have been handed over to their families for burial.
Soon after the bodies were handed over to their families, thousands of people attended the funeral prayers of slain militant, Ishaq Ahmad alias “Newton”.
Amid “pro-freedom” slogans, Ishaq’s body was marched to the graveyard in Laribal village where thousands of people participated in his last rites.
Ishaq according to the police officials left his home in March last year and joined the militant outfit.
Meanwhile, a spontaneous shutdown was observed in Tral area against the killing of three militants.
All the shops and other business establishments are closed while the traffic is off the roads.
Reports said that a large number of people are visiting the families of the three slain militants in Tral to pray tributes and offer condolences to the families.
