Four militants killed in Sopore, Shopian gunfights

Srinagar: Four militants, including a commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), were killed in two separate encounters with government forces in Sopore and Shopian areas of Kashmir valley in the last 36 hours, police said on Saturday.
While two militants were killed in Sopore township of Baramulla district of north Kashmir, two others were killed in Shopian district of south Kashmir in an operation which began on Friday, a police official said.
Government forces launched a cordon and search operation in Warpora area of Sopore on Saturday and two JeM militants were killed in an encounter, he said.
One of the two was identified as Umer Shahbaz Wani, a resident of Kharpora Bandipora, while another was not yet identified, the official added.
Both of them were involved in a series of militancy related activities, he said, adding that Wani had joined the militant ranks in June and was active within Sopore with other terror operatives of the JeM. Incriminating material, including arms and ammunition, were recovered from the encounter site, he said.
In another operation which began in Pandushan area of Shopian on Friday, the official said security forces killed Manzoor Bhat. He was associated with Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) outfit. On Friday, JeM militant Zeenat ul Islam Naikoo, a resident of Memandar area of Shopian, was killed in the gunfight, the official said. He said Naikoo, a Pakistani national, was the JeM’s district commander in Shopian. Both the militants were involved in terror crimes, including atrocities on civilians.