5 militants killed in Shopian encounter

“Based on specific joint intelligence of the army and the police about presence of militants in a hideout in the upper reaches of Kohrut, a joint operation was launched by the Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group, resulting in killing of five militants,” he said.

The Army official said that three AK-47 rifles, one SLR, one chinese pistol, and magazines were recovered from the encounter site. “Out of five militants, four were locals and one was a foreigner.”

DIG (South Kashmir) Alok Kumar told The Indian Express that two of the slain militants belonged to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, while the other three were Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives.

“The militants have been identified as, Shakeel Ahmad from Pakherpora in Budgam, Tahir from Aglar in Pulwama, Parvaiz from Batamuran Shopian, Ishfaq from Arwani Bijbehra and Toib, a foreign national,” he said.