Srinagar
Thousands of people on Wednesday participated in the funeral of two slain militants in Handura and Khargund villages of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Two Jaish-e-Mohammad militants – Abid Ahmad of Khargund and Ishfaq Ahmad of Handoora – were killed along with two foreigners, identified by the police as Umar Khalid and Yasir, in a 12-hour-long gunfight in Goyitengo forests of Laam, Tral yesterday.
A soldier and a policeman were also killed and two army men wounded in the gunfight.
Eyewitnesses said that a large number of people participated in funeral prayers of the two slain militants at both the villages. Later the duo was laid to rest at their respective native places.
Slain militant Abid Maqbool, is the son of a policeman. He was a student of the second year when he joined JeM in the month of February 2018.
Slain militant Ishfaq Ahmad Khan who was first arrested in March 2014 after he tried to snatch a service rifle of a SOG man on duty in Pampore. That time police issued a statement suggesting Khan was an OGW with Hizbul Mujahideen militant group. He was jailed for one year and later released. But after his release, he joined JeM.
A spontaneous shutdown was observed in Tral area, all the shop’s government and private offices remained shut and traffic was off the roads to mourn the killings.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani militants namely Umar Khalid and Yasir who were killed along with his two local associates was buried today wee hours at Gantmullah in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district– where foreign militants are laid to rest in the Valley.
A police officer confirmed that the foreign militants were buried in Gantmullah.