Hizbul Mujahideen commander killed in encounter in J&K's Kulgam

Srinagar: A district commander of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) was killed in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday following a cordon and search operation at Asmuji village, police said, adding that in the last three days, six terrorists, including two top commanders of HM and The Resistance Front (TRF), a terror group backed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, have been eliminated by the forces in separate operations.

According to the police, a cordon and search operation was launched in the Asmuji area on Saturday morning jointly by the Jammu and Kashmir police, Army, and the CRPF on a tipoff about presence of two terrorists.

A police spokesperson said after presence of one of the terrorists was ascertained, efforts were made to evacuate civilians from the area and the terrorist was asked to surrender. However, he started firing indiscriminately upon the security forces, who retaliated, the spokesperson added.

“In the ensuing encounter, Mudasir Ahmad Wagay of Malwan, Devsar was killed,” the spokesperson said. Police said Wagay was (A+) categorised terrorist and was presently the district commander of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. “He (Wagay) was active since 2018. Incriminating material including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site,” the J&K Police said.

On Wednesday, security forces killed five local terrorists at Pombay and Gopalpora villages of Kulgam district in two separate encounters. Among the terrorists killed, police identified two as Shakir Najar and Afaq Sikendar Lone, top commanders of TRF and HM, respectively.