Three militants have been killed in the encounter in the Sirchand forest area of Batkoot in the Pahalgam area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
An official told The Kashmiriyat that 03 RR of the Indian Army, Jammu Kashmir Police, and CRPF had jointly launched a search operation in the area, following inputs about militant presence in the area.
During the cordon, the militant opened fire upon forces, which triggered an encounter, the official said. In the following exchange of gunfire, three unidentified militants have been killed, he said.
Sources told The Kashmiriyat that the three slain are local militants, two from the Bijbehara division of south Kashmir and one from the Kokernag area of Anantnag district.
They said that Mohammad Ashraf Khan alias Ashraf Molvi, a resident of the Tangpawa area in Kokernag area of south Kashmir’s Islamabad (Anantnag) district is among the slain militants.
Having joined Militant ranks in 2013, after initially working as an overground worker for many years, Molvi was chosen as the operational commander for the valley after the death of Saifullah.
Hailing from a poor family and survived by a mother, Ashraf was a close aide of Bashir Lashkar, a top Lashkar commander involved in the killing of five Policemen in Achabal Anantnag in July 2017, and his name surfaced on the list of the most wanted Militants in 2018 and 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Mohammed Ashraf Khan alias Ashraf Maulvi, is categorized as an A++ Militant and was believed to be more experienced than Saifullah. He appeared in several videos providing arms training to new militant recruits.
Ashraf Khan, they said, had survived from several cordons and encounters during the last few years and is involved in several attacks on Government forces.