2 AuGH, Lashkar militants killed in Tral encounter: Police

Pulwama: Two militants of Ansaar Gazwatul Hind (AuGH) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were killed in an encounter at Tral area of Awantipore in southern district of Pulwama district, police said on Wednesday.
A police official said that based on a specific input generated by Ganderbal police regarding presence of militants in Tral area of Awantipora, a raid was conducted by Awantipora Police in the area.
“During the raid, as the search party proceeded towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired indiscriminately at the search party which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter,” the official said.
He said that in the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed and another was holed up.
“The reinforcement of Army (42RR) & 180Bn CRPF reached the encounter site and joined the operation. The joint team later killed neutralized the second holed up militant as well,” the official said.
A police spokesman in a statement issued on Wednesday said that the bodies of two slain were retrieved from the site of encounter. “They have been identified as Umar Nabi Teli alias Talha son of Ghulam Nabi Teli, resident of Ladoo Khrew and Shafat Muzaffar Sofi alias Muavia son of Muzaffar Ahmad Sofi, resident of Batagund Tral,” he said.
He said that as per police records, both the killed militants were categorized were associated with AuGH and LeT.
Talking to reporters in Srinagar, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar said that militants said that security forces have killed 66 militants of JeM and from December 21 to March 22, which has led to frustration among militants, who are now attacking the soft targets.
“The two slain in Tral encounter were operating in Srinagar. After civilian and soft target killing, they shifted to Tral area and were tracked and killed,” the IGP said, adding that in Pulwama, poor labourers from outside who had come here to earn their livelihood were attacked. “We have identified the involved militant and very soon he will be killed. Similarly, police have got some leads regarding targeting of a Kashmiri Pandit in a remote village of Shopian and the involved militant shall also be killed soon,” the IGP said.
To a question if Pakistani militants are “using local” militants , the IGP said: “You have seen that several foreigners were killed. However, the foreign militants use locals as a shield, as recently in Shopian where one local militant was killed while a Pakistani militant escaped from the encounter site and put local militant at the forefront.”
The IGP Kashmir also said that in view of soft target attacks by militants, the night patrolling has been enhanced and joint patrolling of police and security forces is being carried with security forces in vulnerable areas