The gun-battle in Manzimpora village, about 55 kms from Srinagar, broke out at around 4.30 pm when a joint team of police and Rashtriya Rifles started a search operation after getting specific information about presence of militants in the area, the police said.
“As the security forces were busy searching the village, hiding militants opened fire at them triggering a fierce gunfight,” an officer said.
He said more reinforcements were rushed to the area and the cordon was tightened. “So far two top militants of Hizbul Mujaheedin have been killed.”
A defence spokesman in a statement said, “As the operations progressed to track down terrorists whose presence had been reported today morning, contact was established and a fierce gun battle ensued in the residential area which continued till last light.”
“The operation was undertaken by the army with utmost care to ensure safety to the residents of the area with minimum inconvenience to the locals," he added.
The encounter resulted in the killing of two militants who were identified as Adil Ahmad Khanday and Irshad Ahmad, the police said. Khanday hails from Shopian. The slain militants were wearing army fatigues under the traditional 'pheran' (cloak), the police said, adding some arms and ammunition were recovered from them.
The search operation was still continuing in the area, the police said.
With inputs from Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar