Saturday, March 12 2005 17:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: A self-styled district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and a counter-insurgent associated with Ikhwan were among six militants killed in separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said in Srinagar today (Mar 12, 2005).

The self-styled district financial chief of Hizbul Farooq Ahmad Dar was killed alongwith his close associate Mohammad Iqbal in a gunbattle with security forces at Machipora village of Handwara in frontier district of Kupwara today, the sources said.

They said the encounter took place in the wee hours of the day when the security forces ambush party observed movement of militants and challenged them.

The killing of Dar, who was active for the past 15 years after resigning from police, was considered as a major blow to Hizbul Mujahideen in Kupwara district, the sources said.

However, the residents of Machipora accused the security forces of killing the duo in a fake encounter.

In another encounter, a Defence spokesman said troops of Rashtriya Rifles shot dead three Hizbul Mujahideen militants during search operations at village Hablish in Anantnag district of South Kashmir yesterday. Two AK assault rifles and a pistol were recovered from the killed ultras, he said.

The spokesman said troops shot dead one more local militant associated with Jaish-e-Mohamad outfit Bashir Ahmad Malla alias Abu Bilal in an encounter at Wularhama in Anantnag today.

An AK assault rifle, two magazines and four hand grenades were recovered from the slain militant, he added.

In another incident, the sources said militants shot dead an Ikhwan activist Fayaz Ahmad Bhat at Bandipora in Baramulla district this afternoon. Bhat, a resident of Check-Arsalan Khan, was abducted and later shot dead by militants.