Two militants have been killed in an ongoing encounter with government forces in Pulwama village of South Kashmir on Sunday morning.A Police officer told news agency GNS that a joint team of army, SOG and CRPF cordoned off Tahab village following specific inputs about the presence of some militants.As such the forces reached near the suspected spot, the militants present there tried to break the cordon and subsequently opened indiscriminate fire upon them triggering of an encounter, the officer said.“During the gunfight, two militants have been killed and the search operation is still going on in the area”, he said.The official identified the militants as Shariq Ahmad of Gulzarpora and Showkat Ahmad of Mahind village.Soon after the news about the gunfight spread in the area, the youth took to streets and started pelting stones on forces. The para-military CRPF and police used tear smoke shells to disperse the protesters.
When reports last came in, the stone pelting clashes were going on at number of places around the encounter site.In wake of the encounter, the authorities have blocked the internet services in Pulwama district.Meanwhile, thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of the two slain militants at their respective hometowns amid pro-freedom slogans.In the meantime, Hizb commander Riyaz Naikoo also appeared in the funeral of slain militant Shariq Ahmad at Takuna and addressed the gathering of thousands of people.Asking people not to fall for tricks, he said that efforts are being made to defame the Kashmir freedom struggle, .
Without naming Zakir Musa who was recently named head of Al-Qaeda wing in Kashmir, Naikoo said that all the people holding the flag of Islam “are not necessarily our own”.“Pakistan flag is our flag. Linking our struggle with Al Qaeda and ISIS is a ploy to defame it,” he said.Naikoo asked people not to support those “who oppose Pakistani flag and our freedom struggle from India”.Before leaving the venue, Naikoo raised pro-Pakistan slogans like ‘teri jaan meri jaan Pakistan, Pakistan’ and ‘Pakistan se rishta kya la ilaha illallah”.Later, both the slain militants were buried in respective martyr's graveyards at Gulzarpora and Mahind in south Kashmir. (GNS)