Three militants killed in two separate encounters in Srinagar and Kulgam.
Kashmir Police Inspector General Vijay Kumar said that a militant who was killed in a brief shooting in the Bemina area of Srinagar last night was identified and was a relative of one of the defendants in the Lethpora attack.
“Militants killed in Srinagar meeting identified as Aamir Riyaz of Khrew Pulwama, affiliated with the militant group Mujahideen Gazwatul Hind. He was a relative of one of the Lethpora Militant Attack defendants and was assigned to carry out the fidayeen attack, Kumar tweeted from the official post.
A notepad bearing the name of the same team and not independently verified stated that three fidayeen squad fighters had taken up positions at a CRPF camp and at the SDPO office in Bemina. However, police and CRPF officials discredited the claim and said that a militant had been killed and that the shooting was over.
In another encounter in the Chawalgam area of Kulgam, two militants from the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen group were killed in a shooting that began on Thursday.
A senior police officer said that two militants were killed in a meeting in Chawalgam who were affiliated with Hizb.
Sources identified them as Sheeraz Maulvi and Yawar. Sheeraz, they said, was a senior Hizbul Mujahedeen commander since 2016.
The officer said that a militant died last night, but that the operation had to be stopped according to standard operating procedure. He said that early this morning when the operation resumed, the militant was killed.
In the last month, more than 20 militants have died after the massacre of 15 civilians. Earlier this week, a policeman and a salesman working in a shop run by businessman Kashmiri Pandit were shot in Srinagar.