Three Hizbul militants killed in gun battle near Srinagar

Three Hizbul Mujahideen militants were on Thursday killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district.

"Three militants have been killed and searches are going on at the scene of the gunbattle," superintendent of police Shopian Shahid Mehraj told PTI.

Acting on credible inputs about the presence of militants, a joint team of the Army's 53 Rashtriya Rifles, 44 Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group of the local police launched a cordon-and-search operation at Chewan in Keller area of Shopian district, 70 km from Srinagar, officials said.

They said the militants were asked to surrender but they opened indiscriminate fire at the security forces who retaliated, triggering off a fierce gun battle.

All the three militants hiding in the area were killed on Thursday morning, the officials said.

According to preliminary investigation, the slain ultras were identified as Shabir Ahmad, Arif Ahmad (both residents of Rajouri in Jammu division) and Jan Khan, a resident of Keller area, they said.

The militants were affiliated to the HIzbul Mujahideen, the officials said.