No Hizbul Militants in Tral For First Time Since 1989: J&K Police

File photo of an encounter between armed forces personnel and terrorists in Kashmir. 

(Photo: IANS / Altered by The Quint)

For the first time since the outbreak of militancy in the Kashmir Valley in 1989, there was no presence of Hizbul Mujahideen militants in the Tral area of Pulwama district anymore, the Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed on Friday, 27 June.

The claim came after three militants were killed in an encounter in the Chewa Ular area of Tral in Pulwama district.

"After today's #successful ops (operations), no presence of HM #terrorist in #Tral area. It has happened for first time since 1989," the J&K police said, retweeting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar from the Kashmir zone police's official Twitter handle.

Three militants were on Friday killed in an overnight encounter in Pulwama, the Army said on Friday.

“Three terrorists have been eliminated in Chewa (Pulwama) operation,” an Army spokesperson was quoted by News18 as saying.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Chewa Ular area of Tral in south Kashmir district on Thursday, which turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire.

The claim by the police comes amid a series of encounters in the past few weeks in the Pulwama district leading to the elimination of several LeT and Hizbul affiliated terrorists.

Recently, security agencies had identified Pakistani terrorist Mohd Ismail Alvi as the fabricator of the explosive laden vehicle which was challenged on Thursday, 28 May in Pulwama that was later detonated by the Bomb Disposal Squad averting a major terror attack in the valley.