Srinagar: A self-styled district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir today afternoon, official sources said.
Abdul Rashid alias "Majid", one of the most wanted militants of Hizbul Mujahideen in south Kashmir, was killed in a nearly five-hour-long gunbattle with Special Operations Group of local police and Rashtriya Rifles at Nayan-Batpora village, the sources said.
The encounter broke out at around 7 am when a police party assisted by troops of Rashtriya Rifles raided a house adjacent to a school in the village following specific information about presence of the top Hizbul Mujahideen militant there, they said.
The joint search party asked the hiding militant to surrender but he opened fire and in the ensuing encounter, the self-styled district commander was killed, they said.
His half-burnt body alongwith some arms and ammunition was recovered from the debris of the house which was gutted during the gunfight, they added.
Terming the killing of the top militant as a "major breakthrough", the sources said Rashid was evading arrest for the last several years and was wanted in a number of militancy-related incidents.
