J&K: Militants brandish AK-47s at Sameer Tiger's funeral (VIDEO)

Police sources said Sameer Tiger was a stone-pelter before he became a militant. Arrested for throwing stones in March 2016, he was released after five days but joined the Hizbul Mujahideen two months later.

A screen grab taken from the YouTube video below.

Srinagar: Hundreds of people gathered at the funeral ceremony of top Hizbul militant Sameer Tiger in Pulwama on Tuesday. Reports said that some armed militants appeared at the funeral of Hizb commander Sameer Tiger and offered a gun salute to Sameer and brandished their AK-47s raising pro-freedom, pro-Islam and pro-Pakistan slogans. Sameer Bhat alias Sameer Tiger was killed in his home in Drabgam village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district. His associate Aquib Khan was also killed. Police said Tiger, who was in his early 20s, carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. Tiger had come under the glare in November 2017 after pictures surfaced showing him posing with an American M4 carbine in an orchard somewhere in south Kashmir. Police sources said he was a stone-pelter before he became a militant. Arrested for throwing stones in March 2016, he was released after five days but joined the Hizbul Mujahideen two months later. "He emerged as a top commander after the death of Burhan Wani and his imprints were there in many attacks in the area," an officer said. The other militant killed on Monday, Aquib, had plotted several attacks on security establishments in south Kashmir along with Tiger, police sources said. The injured soldiers were evacuated to the army's 92 base hospital for treatment. Hundreds had thronged the streets and engaged the forces in clashes in a bid to distract them and give the militants a chance to flee. Several protesters were injured after the forces fired live ammunition and pellets to disperse the mob. A 25-year-old youth, Shahid Dar, died after he was hit by a bullet in the chest. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik condemned the killings and called for a complete shutdown on Tuesday. (With additional information from The Telegraph, India)