2 MILITANTS GUNNED DOWN IN KULGAM

SRINAGAR: Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police said on Monday. The identity and affiliation of the militants is being ascertained, police said.

The operation was launched on the intervening night of May 24/25 after an input was received by the police about the presence of militants in the Khurd-Hanjipora area of Manzgam. Mobile internet was snapped in some parts of south Kashmir after the encounter.

“Acting on the input, a joint search operation was launched by Kulgam Police, 34 RR and CRPF 18 Bn. As search parties drew closer to the suspected house, hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon them. The fire was effectively retaliated in which two terrorists were neutralised,” said a J&K police spokesperson. “Incriminating material, including arms and ammunition, has been recovered from the site of the encounter,” he said adding that the operation saw no collateral damage.

Police have asked people not to venture inside the encounter zone. “The bomb disposal squads have cleared the area of all stray explosives, but people are requested to co-operate with the police till the area is completely sanitised,” he said.