Two militants were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and a civilian was killed in clashes between locals and security forces following the gun-battle, officials said.
The militants were reportedly identified as Sameer Tiger and Aaqib Khan. Tiger is a top Hizbul commander and an ‘A++ category’ terrorist.
Two soldiers, including an officer, were also injured in the initial firing by the militants, they said.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the district’s Drabgam area following information about the presence of two to three militants there, a police official said.
The official said as the security forces were closing in on their position, the militants resorted to indiscriminate firing.
"As the cordon was tightened, the militants fired at the security forces triggering the gunfight," the officials added.
Reports coming in from the area said stone-pelting mob also clashed with the security forces. A few protesters were also injured.
Mobile internet services have been suspended across Pulwama district.
Mewanwhile, in a separate incident in the state’s Baramulla, three civilians were killed in an attack by militants.
Who Is Sameer Tiger?
Sameer Ahmed Bhat, alias Sameer Tiger, is allegedly the Hizbul Mujahideen's main recruiter in the Kashmir Valley.
According to a PTI report, Bhat appeared in mainstream media after a photo of him with an American M4 carbine went viral, triggering debates on how the US-made weapon made its way into the Valley.
Bhat started out as a stone pelter, officials told PTI. Soon after Burhan Wani’s death in July 2016, Bhat emerged as the poster boy for the Hizbul Mujahideen.
After Wani's death, videos of a bearded, long-haired Bhat appeared on various social networking sites in a bid to entice Kashmiri youths to become militants.
However, three months before before he joined the Hizbul, an 18-year-old Bhat was picked up by the Jammu and Kashmir police after he was caught pelting stones on security personnel.
The Class 8 dropout was then counselled by police for nearly two weeks and let off with a condition that he would continue with his studies, officials told PTI. However, only days later, his parents approached the Drabgam police station and registered a missing report about their son.
Meanwhile, Bhat had reportedly fled into the jungles of adjoining Tral where he joined the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group besides extending help to other terror outfits.
According to senior police officials, Bhat persuaded about 80 people to join the militancy movement in south Kashmir and repeatedly managed to escape the police’s clutches.
(With inouts from ANI, PTI and IANS)
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