Srinagar, June 16: A top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen along with two others, one of them the nephew of a former PDP MLC, were killed in a gunfight in Turkwangam area of South Kashmir's Shopian district.  According to the IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, a joint operation was started after police got tip-off about the presence of the militants in Turkwangam village in Shopian. Based on the inputs, the operation was launched at around midnight, during which the security joint team approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them. The fire was retaliated by the team triggering an encounter in which three militants were killed.  Also Read:  Earthquake Hits Jammu And Kashmir Again! 5th Jolt Since Yesterday; Check List Of Recent Tremors In India

While police said that the identity of the slain militants will not be released due to the new Covid-19 protocol, however, sources confirmed the slain as Hizbul Mujahideen district Commander Zubair Wani of Turkawangam, Kamran Manhas, nephew of former PDP MLC Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, a resident of Sharaab Kareena and Muneeb-ul-Haq of Sugan Zainapora Shopian.

Kamran Manhas had announced joining the Hizbul ranks in January 2019 and a picture showing him holding an AK-47 rifle went viral on social media then.  Zaffar Manhas, who was earlier an MLC of PDP has now joined Jammu and Kashmir Apni party.

Kamran was the first youth from the Sharaab Kareena village to join militancy in more than twenty years. It could not be ascertained immediately if any other youth has joined the militant ranks since then.

GOC Victor Force, Ananiya Sengupta said that as per protocol, army asked the three militants to surrender, which is the policy but the army could do very little as the fire-fight had started by then

With the fresh killings, GOC said that army has killed 24 militants in last 15 days in south Kashmir, mostly belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen in Shopian and Kulgam district.

Meanwhile, Internet services have been suspended in Shopian district to prevent protests.