TERRORIST WAS IN A++ GROUP

Srinagar, Jan. 13: Top AlBadr commander Zeenat-ulIslam was among the two militants killed in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Sunday.

“The two militants killed in the Katpora encounter have been identified as Zeenat-ulIslam and Shakeel Ahmad Dar. Both were involved in several terror crimes,” a police official said.

Islam, a category A++ militant, was a top commander who had switched over to AlBadr from Hizbul Mujahideen in November last year following consensus between the two outfits to strengthen the Al-Badr, he said. He was active from 2006.

The official said security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Katpora area of Yaripora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district Saturday evening after receiving specific information about the presence of militants. He said as the forces were conducting the searches, the militants fired upon them.

The militants were given an opportunity to surrender, but they continued to fire upon the forces, the official said. The forces retaliated, ensuing an encounter in which two the militants were killed, he said.

Meanwhile, a police spokesman said both the killed militants were affiliated with AlBadr and were wanted by the law for “their complicity terror crimes.”