By IANS,
Jammu : Three guerrillas were killed by security forces in a gunfight in the Ramban-Banihal area along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday, police said, adding two of the ultras belonged to the Hizbul Mujahadeen and the third was from the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The gun battle started in the morning and lasted till late afternoon, Inspector General of Police Dilbagh Singh told reporters at a hurriedly convened press conference here late in the evening.
Dilbagh Singh said that the “killing of the terrorists was a big blow to the terrorist outfit and a big relief to the people of the area”.
The three slain terrorists were identified as Abdul Rashid Naik, divisional commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen (Pir Panjaal Range), Nasir Ahmed Naik, district commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen and Mushtaq Ahmed of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The gunfight started at Manjosh near Banihal in Ramban district of Jammu region. It lasted for more than eight hours, during which the army and police, negotiated slippery hills and dense forests to “eliminate the terrorists”, Singh said.