By IANS,
Srinagar : Two Pakistani guerrillas were killed in a fierce exchange of fire with security forces in a north Kashmir village Thursday, the police said.
A joint party of the Indian Army and the state police launched an operation at Daril Vilgam village in Handwara, where polling is to be held in the third phase of the staggered Jammu and Kashmir elections Nov 30. The second phase of the state elections is slated for Nov 23.
The operation was launched following intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in a makeshift house of Abdul Ahad Rawat in Daril, a police spokesman said.
Two militants of Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit – Shamsheer alias Showkat Bhai and Irfan alias Abu Talib – from Pakistan were killed, the spokesman added.
The clash took place three days after the first of seven-phased state assembly elections in which at least 64 percent of electorate voted defying Muslim separatists’ boycott call.
Guerrillas in the poll-bound Kashmir have been keeping a low profile with no major incident of militant-initiated violence reported during the past few weeks.