Three Hizb ul Mujahideen militants were killed in an overnight encounter in the Tral area of south Kashmir’s Awantipora police district.
The gunfight erupted Thursday evening in Chewa-Ullar village after the army, special operations group (SOG) and CRPF launched a joint cordon and search operation.
“The guns blazed heavily on both sides throughout the night,” a police official said.
He said the security forces later blew up the house with heavy explosives where the militants had taken shelter.
Three other houses also suffered damage in the incident.
“The bodies of three militants were retrieved from the debris,” a police official said.
He said arms and ammunition including 2 AK-47 rifles were recovered.
The bodies were taken by police to north Kashmir’s Handwara for burial. Some of the family members were allowed to participate in the funeral.
Lately, police have been denying the bodies of the militants to their families as their funerals attracted large crowds.
The slain were Qasim Shah alias Jugnoo of Midoora, Tral, the commander of the outfit in the area; Haris Manzoor Bhat of Koil-Shikargarh Tral; and Basit Ahmad Parray of Laribal, Tral.
Shah with a B Tech degree in civil engineering had joined Hizb on March 3, 2017.
He was the son of Tehreek i Hurriyat Tehsil President for Tral, Ghulam Muhammad Shah.
Bhat, pursuing Bachelor’s degree, had joined ranks on April 25 this year and Parray, a BSc in Information Technology had joined only last month.
Parray’s cousin Ishaq Parray alias Newton – also a Hizb militant – was killed in an encounter in 2015. Two other close relatives of his were killed in different gunfights.
Funeral prayers in absentia were offered for the slain militants after Friday prayers in Midoora.