Srinagar: A gunbattle started between militants and security forces in Srinagar’s Sariabala area late on Monday night. Police said that two militants including a top commander of Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad were gunned down in a late night operation by the security forces.
The encounter happened on the day three policemen were killed in two separate militant strikes in Srinagar. The militants were from Hizbul Mujahideen.
"On specific information about presence of two militants in Maharaja Bazaar area of Srinagar, we launched house to house searches in the densely populated area, where the security forces were fired upon after which a brief encounter started," a senior police officer said.
One of the dead militants was identified as Saifullah, a top Jaish commander in the Kashmir Valley, while the identity of the other is yet to be ascertained.
"Two militants were killed in the encounter. One of the slain militants has been identified as Saifullah, a Pakistani national who was commander of Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, the others identity is being established," the official added.
The officer, however, did not confirm if these militants were involved in carrying out two deadly shoot and run attacks that left three policemen including an assistant sub-inspector, a head constable and a constable killed.
