2 Hizbul terrorists killed in encounter in J&K's Kulgam; Army man injured

The militants were given the opportunity to surrender and repeated appeals were made through local elders, a police official said

Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed and an Army man suffered injuries during an encounter between the ultras and security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Arrah area of Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Saturday based on specific information about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said.

He said the militants were given the opportunity to surrender and repeated appeals were made through local elders.

However, the terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the search team of the forces, which was retaliated leading to an encounter in which two terrorists were killed.

Their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter, he said.

One of the killed ultras was a foreigner and identified as Ali Bhai alias Hyder and the identity of the second militant was being ascertained, the official said, adding they were affiliated with the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen.

During the operation, an Army man was injured and he was taken to a hospital, he added.

Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter and all the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes, the official said.

He said the bodies of the militants have been sent to Handwara for their last rites after conducting medico-legal formalities.