By IANS
Srinagar : Security forces Tuesday evening gunned down two top Hizbul Mujahideen commanders in a gunfight, in which a civilian was also killed in south Kashmir, the police said.
Troops of 3 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the state police jointly surrounded a house in the Dudu village near Bijbehara in Anantnag district, 55 km from here.
“The cordon was laid on a specific information about the presence of militants in the house,” said a police spokesman.
“As the security forces challenged the hiding militants to surrender, they opened indiscriminate fire at the troops,” the spokesman said.
In the ensuing gunfight, security forces gunned down divisional commander of the militant outfit Aslam Khan alias Zia-ur-Rahman and Javed Ahmed Lone, district commander, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the house owner, Abdul Rashid Khan, was also killed in the crossfire while another civilian was seriously wounded.
“During the gunfight, house owner was entrapped inside the house. Despite repeated pleas, he did not come out and got killed in the exchange of fire,” the spokesman said.
A trooper critically injured in the gunfight was taken to hospital.
The spokesman said arms and ammunition have been recovered from the site.
The police said the two guerrillas holed up in a mosque at village Papchan near north Kashmir Bandipore town managed to escape.
The mosque was partially damaged during the gunbattle.