Jaish commander killed in Shopian encounter

In a major breakthrough, security forces killed Jaish-e-Mohammed commander Vilayat Hussain Lone in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday, taking the death toll of the ultras in the three-day operation to two.

Lone — alias Sajjad Afghani, who was one of the most-wanted militants in Kashmir — was killed in a fresh exchange of fire with security forces in Rawalpora area where an anti-militancy operation was launched on Saturday, police said.

A militant — identified as Jahangir Ahmad Wani of the Lashkar-e-Taiba — was killed in the gunfight on Sunday.

Inspector General of Police Kashmir Zone Vijay Kumar congratulated the security forces for killing Afghani.