Two militants killed in Pulwama encounter

Two Al-Badr militants were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Thursday.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Pulwama of south Kashmir on Wednesday following inputs about the presence of militants there, a police official said.

He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the hiding militants fired upon the forces who retaliated.

After the initial firing, the operation was halted to evacuate civilians, the official said.

After the civilians were evacuated, the exchange of firing resumed and a militant was killed on Wednesday night, while a soldier was injured, he said.

As the firing continued during the night, another militant was killed, the official said.

Inspector general of police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the two ultras belonged to the Al-Badr outfit.

”Both killed terrorists identified as local terrorists namely Aijaz Hafiz & Shahid Ayub, of Al-Badr outfit. 02 AK rifles recovered. They had been involved in series of attacks on outside labourers in Pulwama in the month of March-April 2022,” the IGP said in a tweet.