Three militants killed in two J&K encounters: Suspected Zakir Musa aide killed in Tral; 2 LeT terrorists gunned down in Pulwama

Two encounters were reported in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, in which three militants and one soldier were killed. The gunfights were reported from Tral sector’s Hafoo area in Pulwama district and the Redwani area of Kulgam district. In the Kulgam encounter, two militants of the Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) were killed, while the one killed in Pulwama belonged to the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an ISIS offshoot, police officials said. The one militant killed in the Tral encounter has been identified as Shakir Hassan Dar of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind headed by terrorist Zakir Musa, a police spokesperson said. The encounter in Tral ensued after a joint team of the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a Special Operations Group cordoned off Hafoo after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in the area. [caption id=“attachment_5623351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Visuals of the encounter in Tral. ANI[/caption] The two LeT militants were killed in Kulgam encounter after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Redwani area. They were identified as Ajaz Ahmad Makroo and Waris Ahmad Malik. A soldier was killed and two were also injured in the Kulgam gunfight. The search operation was launched around midnight after security forces received information about the presence of militants in the area. The soldier who succumbed to his injuries in hospital has been identified as Sapper Prakash Jadhav. Ammunition and other incriminating material were seized from the site of the encounter, a police official said. According to reports, 226 terrorists have been killed in the Valley in 2018 under Operation All Out, with 20 militants being gunned down in the past 72 hours. On Sunday, an Indian Army soldier and six terrorists were killed in an  encounter  in Kapran Batagund area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district. A civilian was also killed in the clashes that followed, while four other local residents were injured in the crossfire near the site of the encounter. This had triggered clashes between groups of youth and security forces in the area. On 22 November, a civilian was injured during an exchange of fire between militants and security personnel in Kulgam  district. The gunfight had ensued after terrorists fired at an army camp in Khudwani area of the district. With inputs from agencies