Two militants including a top militant commander were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday evening

Officials said that army and police launched a joint operation in Yaripora after they got information about presence of two to three militants there.

A police spokesman confirmed the killing of two militants in the operation and said that their identity are being ascertained.

“In a joint operation by the Army, police and CRPF, two militants were killed. As per policy , the terrorists were given an opportunity to surrender. The terrorists however, continued to fire and were eliminated in the ensuing gunfight. The terrorists have been identified as Zeenat ul Islam and Shakeel Ahmed Dar. Weapons and other warlike stores recovered. Operations concluded,” said Army spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia.

Zeenat-ul-islam who was one of the top wanted commanders of Shopian, was heading Albadr militant group in Kashmir and recently shifted from Hizb to Albadr. He had joined militancy in 2015 and manage to escape several cordon and search operations in the last one year. He was an A+++ category militant.

Zeenat, considered as an Improvised explosive device (IED) expert, was earlier associated with another militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, the official said.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also tweeted about the operation.

“Clashes have erupted in Kulgam where two militants were killed by security forces. Can only hope it doesnt set off a cycle of protests followed by civilian killings. Precisely why I was adamant on extension of the ceasefire initiative by GoI,” she said in her tweet.

As the operation was underway, clashes erupted in the area as locals were allegedly trying to give safe passage to trapped militants. Mobile internet has been snapped in the area.

First Published: Jan 12, 2019 21:06 IST