Army on Friday said that killing of two Hizbul Mujahideen militants Bilal Ahmad Shah and Zahoor Ahmad at Khumriyal, Kupwara is a “big blow” to the outfit as they were the “main recruiters” in north Kashmir.
Sector commander of 8 Kilo Force Mohit Trivedi while addressing a news conference here said, “Both the militants were making ground, recruiting new youth. They were backbone of Hizbul Mujahideen and belonged to Lolab area and were well aware about the geographical map of this area.”
“The killed militants were involved in rifle snatching incident that took place on Tuesday afternoon in the native village of one among the deceased militant Bilal Ahmad Shah,” he added.
Trivedi said, “On a tip off Kupwara police had laid a mobile vehicle check point at Khumriyal on Thursday. When a suspected car reached the spot it was intercepted. Militants hiding in the vehicle fired upon the search party which was retaliated triggering an encounter in which both the militants were killed.”
He said the driver of that particular vehicle is absconding. “We have recovered the vehicle Investigation into the case will reveal involvement of the car owner, driver,” Trivedi said.