Hizb ‘hit squad’ members killed in Pulwama

One of them, a part of Hizb’s hit squad, was involved in recent killing of civilian Javid Ahmad Mali, says IGP

Residents inspect a damaged house near an encounter site at Khrew in the Pampore area of South Kashmir's Pulwama district on August 20, 2021.

Two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants were killed in an encounter in Pulwama’s Khrew area on Friday morning.

“The duo was a ‘hit squad’ of the Hizb. They were responsible for civilian killings in south Kashmir. One of them, Musaib Mustaq, from Khrew, was involved in the killing of Javid Ahmad Malik, a peon in a school in Pastuna [on July 23, 2021],” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said.

They were encircled in a joint anti-militancy operation. An Army spokesman said, “The operation was launched at 1 a.m. The search party drew heavy volume of fire from the terrorists hiding in the village at 2:40 a.m.”.

The intermittent exchange of fire continued throughout the night. “At 6:30 a.m., one terrorist tried to escape by firing on the troops but was neutralised. The second terrorist continued to fire but was contained in the house by the troops. By 9:15 a.m., the second terrorist was also neutralised,” the Army said.

The police said one AK-47, one pistol and other war-like stores were recovered from the terrorists.