2 Hizbul terrorists killed in Tral encounter

SRINAGAR: Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed in an encounter between them and security forces at Mir Mohalla in Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday morning.

Police identified the slain terrorists as Adfar Fayaz Parray of Gulshanpora in Tral and Irfan Ahmad Rather of Shariefabad, also in Tral. The two were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of attacks on security establishments and for civilian atrocities, police said.

Official sources said the two Hizb terrorists were killed after forces blasted a house in which they were hiding and razed it to the ground. The forces recovered their bodies and two AK-47 assault rifles.

Narrating the sequence of events, a senior police officer said after a brief exchange of firing at Mir Mohalla on Monday evening, the forces suspended the operation as darkness fell. Then there was a long lull. However, the forces tightened the cordon and sealed all the exit routes of the area. With daybreak on Tuesday, security forces started searches near the terrorists’ hideout. At this, the hiding terrorists fired upon the forces, triggering the encounter, which ended with their killings, the officer said.