Braving the frosty weather conditions, thousands of people on Tuesday thronged the native villages of two slain Hizb ul Mujahideen militants in south Kashmir’s Shopian district to take part in their last rites.
Mir Idress, a soldier-turned-militant and Amir Hussain Rather, residents of Safnagri and Awnera villages of Shopian respectively were killed during a pre-dawn gunfight in Safanagri area of district on Tuesday.
Mourners from adjoining and far -off places reached Safnagri and Awnera as soon as the bodies of the militants were handed over to their heirs.
After several rounds of funeral prayers, Mir Idrees was buried around 2:15 PM at the local martyrs’ graveyard at Safnagri.
Amir Hussain Rather was also laid to rest in the afternoon after multiple rounds of funeral prayers.
Veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, according to a mourner, also addressed his funeral procession telephonically.
Both the villages reverberated with pro-Pakistan and pro- freedom slogans.