Two militants, including a commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, were killed on Friday in a gunfight with security forces in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
The gun battle started at about 10 am in Arwani village after security forces, including army personnel, cordoned off the houses in Malik Mohalla following an intelligence tip-off that three Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were present inside, officials said. When the forces closed in, the militants opened fire triggering an encounter, police said.
“Two militants, including a commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit identified as Junaid Mattoo, have been killed”, police sources said.
Mattoo, who carries a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was involved in a day light attack last year on a police van in which three policemen, including an officer, were killed. His involvement is also suspected in the killing of a policeman in Kulgam on Thursday afternoon.
Reports from the area said the security forces used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to blast the two houses where the militants had been hiding.
A civilian identified as Muhammad Ashraf Khar, 22, was killed in clashes between the security forces and a stone pelting mob which gathered near the encounter site. Twelve protesting civilians were injured in these clashes.
Chatter from the terror group had suggested that besides Mattoo, the Lashkar militants are believed to be one Azad Malik and a Pakistani national.
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