"The Divisional Commander of JeM Noor Mohammad Tantray alias Noor Trali was killed in a gun battle with security forces in Samboora area of Pulwama," the official said.
He said the body of the militant has been recovered along with a weapon.
The official said the operation was still in progress. The identification of the second terrorist killed was not disclosed.
Reports say he was involved in terrorist attacks including one in the national capital. He had jumped parole.
5 IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT NOOR MOHAMMAD TANTRAY
- Noor Mohammad Tantray hailed from Tral area of south Kashmir.
- His death is being seen as a blow to the terror group as he was the key man in reviving the JeM in south and central Kashmir.
- Tantray was termed by the police as the "chief architect" of the BSF camp attack near Srinagar airport this year besides being wanted in a number terror offences in South and Central Kashmir.
- In July 2017, after the Aripal encounter in which three JeM terrorists were killed, Tantray went underground and soon became the key man of the terror outfit in coordinating and organising attacks at different places.
- Tantray was a convict in a case registered in 2003 in Delhi and was serving his sentence at Central Jail, Srinagar, until he was out on parole in 2015. Consequently, he remained in Tral at South Kashmir and became a major overground worker of the JeM in the region, they said.