Thousands of mourners Friday participated in the last rites of two militants, who had been killed during a brief encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Thursday.
The slain militants identified as Yawar Mushtaq of Thokerpora,Shopian and Shakeel Ahmad Dar of Tukroo, Shopian were killed in Handew village,some 12 kms from Shopian town.
Local residents said that mourners from the adjoining andfar off villages since early morning made a beeline for the native villages ofslain militants and participated in their last rites.
After multiple rounds of funeral prayers, both the militantswere laid to rest in their respective ancestral graveyards.
Yawar had joined militancy on 30 September 2018 whileShakeel had taken up arms on 21 April 2019.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in the entiredistrict.
All the shops and business establishments remained shutwhile traffic was sparse on the roads.
Authorities, however, restored the mobile internet servicesin the area in the afternoon.
GEELANI PAYS TRIBUTES
Meanwhile, All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman, SyedAli Geelani today paid rich tributes to the youth killed in Pulwama and Shopianencounters.
In a statement here today, Geelani said, “On the pretext ofsearch and cordon operations common people especially youth are deliberatelytargeted with bullets and pellets by the men in uniform.”