Top Harkat commander among two militants killed in Kashmir

Srinagar, Mar 21 (UNI) A top commander of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant were killed by the security forces in two separate encounter early this morning, official sources said.

They said security forces and Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police launched a joint operation at Bandipora in north Kashmir early today.

However, when the troops were about to storm a particular house, they came under heavy fire from militants. Security forces also retaliated and in the fierce clash a HuM commander Ashfaq Ahmad alias Gujjar was killed.

Ashfaq, a listed militant active in the north Kashmir for the past seven years, was wanted in a number of killings and other militancy related incident. One pistol, two hand grenades, one magazine and eight rounds were recovered from the slain militant.

In another operation security forces killed an HM militant at Rajpora in an encounter. The encounter ensued after a search party was attacked by the militants. One AK rifle and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militant identified as Mohammad Rafiq.

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