Two terrorists have been killed by the security forces in an encounter that broke out on Friday morning at Nowbugh in the Tral area of Awantipora, according to the Kashmir Zone Police.
The operation is still underway and a joint team of police and security forces. According to sources, terrorists are hiding inside a mosque and police have sealed the area.
In the initial exchange of fire, two soldiers sustained bullet injuries and were shifted to hospital.
The encounter had started after a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about the presence of terrorists.
Also in Pulwama, five terrorists were killed and four jawans were injured in an encounter between security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district.
The exchange of gunfire took place in the Jan Mohalla in the Shopian town. Two-three militants were trapped by the security forces inside a house.
Among the trapped militants in Tral was the top commander of the Al-Qaeda-inspired terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. The AGH has been coordinating with Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Jammu and Kashmir. The chief commander Imtiyaz Shah has been killed and sources have confirmed that he was Burhan Wani's cousin who was killed in 2016.
Imtiyaz Shah was from Rathsuna, Tral Pulwama.
Imtiyaz has been associated with militancy before 2019 and was closely associated with Ansar Gazwatul Hind founder Zakir Moosa who was killed on May 23, 2019.
Khalid became Emir of Gazwatul Hind in October 2020 after the killing of its chief Hameed Lelhari in an encounter in Awantipore.
Both the ongoing operations at Shopian and Tral are over. Five terrorists in first and two in the second operation neutralised. Both the terrorist groups are from the same outfit. 7 AK and 2 pistols recovered. With these two encounters and the elimination of 7 terrorists, The terrorist group AGH (Ansar Gazwat Ul Hind) fully wiped out once again (DG Police )