A self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit was killed in an encounter in which a jawan also lost his life in Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
Hizbul's 'tehsil commander', identified as Abdul Hamid, was gunned down by security forces after a three-hour encounter during an operation in Panjosh village of Banihal area in the wee hours, defence sources said.
A security jawan also lost his life during the encounter, they said, adding that some arms and ammunition, including one AK rifle, was recovered from the site of the encounter.
Hamid was also an expert in Improvised Explosive Devices and was responsible for planting IEDs on the national highway, they said. A search operation was continuing in the area, the sources said.
Meanwhile, a party of security forces, with the help of sniffer dogs, recovered a polythene bag containing 10 detonators from Dharmari area of Udhampur district, the sources said.