One of the three militants that were gunned down in south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday has been reportedly identified as the nephew of Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar. Talha Rasheed, the divisional commander of JeM, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama on Monday.
An Army jawan was also martyred in the encounter that broke out between militants and security forces on Monday.
GNS, a local news agency in the valley, was reportedly told by a JeM spokesman that one of the militants killed was Talha. Hassan Shah, the JeM spokesman, identified other militants as Muhammad Bhai, and Waseem, a resident of Drubgam in Pulwama.
An M4 carbine has been recovered from the militant, police said.
The encounter between the security forces and militants took place in the Kandi belt of Aglar area in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir. Security forces had launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Kandi belt following information about the presence of some militants.
The search operation led to a gunbattle after the militants fired at the security forces, they said.
