Nephew of JeM chief among two militants killed in Tral
Srinagar: Two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants, including Usman Haider, the nephew of the outfit’s chief Maulana Masood Azhar, were killed after a fierce encounter at Tral in South Kashmir, police said.
A M-4 Carbine, used for carrying out sniper attacks on security forces, was also seized from the encounter site, officials said.
Two bodies were recovered after a day-long encounter that broke in Chaanketaar village of Tral in Pulwama district, they said. The body of one more militant was expected to be retrieved from the rubble, they said.
The intelligence inputs as well as the material seized from the encounter site showed that the militants belonged to JeM, they added.
The police had not officially identified the bodies, but officers speaking on condition of anonymity said Haider was among those killed in the encounter.
A statement and video purportedly shared by Jaish-e-Mohammed on social media identified one of the killed militant as Haider.
It also claimed that he was heading sniper attacks in Kashmir for quite some time.
The security forces also recovered M-4 Carbine rifle from the encounter site which was used by the group to carry out sniper attacks on security forces, they said.
Last week, an Army jawan and a Seema Shashtra Bal personnel were killed in the sniper attacks in Tral area.
Meanwhile, thousands of people converged to Handoora village of Tral to participate in the funeral prayers of slain militant killed in a gunfight yesterday.
Reports said that at least four rounds of funeral prayers were held to accommodate a huge rush of mourners who reached the village from other far-off villages.
They said a militant also appeared in the funeral and offered gun salute to slain militant identified as Showkat.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in Tral Township against the killing of Jaish militants, reports said.
All shops and business establishments in the town remained shut to mourn the killings, reports added.
KV Network
