Two Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants were killed in an operation in Pulwama’s Tral on Tuesday. A JeM spokesman said one of the slain militants was a nephew of the outfit’s founder Masood Azhar.
A police spokesman said a group of militants was tracked and located in a residential house in Chankitar area of Tral in the afternoon.
The hiding militants fired upon the search party, triggering an encounter. “After the encounter, two bodies were recovered from the site,” the police said. The identities of the militants were being ascertained.
The police warned locals against venturing inside the encounter zone “since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials”. The police suspect that three militants were trapped in the house.
Police said the module was behind the recent attacks in Tral, in which one soldier was killed.
8 soldiers injured
The Army said 8 soldiers, including an officer, were injured in an accidental blast at Rajwar area of Handwara in Kupwara district on Tuesday.
Preliminary police reports suggest an army domination party of 21 Rashtriya Rifles were passing through the woods of Nagranad area when a grenade went off.
“All the injured were taken to military hospital Drugmulla where from two seriously wounded including the Army major have been referred to Army’s 92 base hospital,” said the police.
Army reviews security
Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh on Tuesday visited the forward areas of Kashmir region “to review the prevailing security situation on the Line of Control”.
He was briefed on the counter-infiltration grid and operational preparedness of the formations, an Army spokesman said.
In Srinagar, Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar, chaired a meeting to review the overall security scenario in the Kashmir division. He also discussed various measures undertaken to further enhance the security in Kashmir valley, the police said.
“There is always a scope for the improvement and every possible step in this regard must be taken to strengthen the security grid in the state,” said Mr. Kumar.
Meanwhile, sleuths of the National Investigation Agency scanned the house of businessman Fayaz Ahmad in Srinagar’s Lal Bazar area.
