Basharat Rasheed
Tral: A complete shutdown in being observed in Tral and Awantopira area in south Kashmir Pulwama district to mourn the killing of six militants affiliated with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind headed by Zakir Musa.
Reports said that shops and other business establishments are closed in Tral and Awantipora while traffic was mainly off the roads on second consecutive day today.
The six militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Arampora hamlet in Tral area of police district Awantipora on Saturday morning, the police said. Among the slain was Musa’s deputy Sauliha Muhammad alias Rehan and five other local militants—Rasik Ahmed Mir son of Ghulam Qadir, Rouf Ahmad Mir son of Ghulam Nabi, Umer Ramzan Mir son of Muhammad Ramzan (all residents of Dadsara, Tral), Nadeem Muzaffar son of Muhammad Muzaffar of BatgundTral and Faisal Javid Khanday son of Javid Khanday of Amlar, Awantipora.
Shakir and Sauliha were initially close associates of popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander BurhanWani. Both had joined militancy in 2015.
In May 2017, however, when Zakir parted his ways from the Hizb, both Shakir and Sauliha joined him. Three of the slain had joined the outfit recently.
