Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant, jawan killed in Kashmir

Srinagar: An Army jawan and a Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant wanted by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) for his alleged involvement in the escape of a Pakistani commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) from the police custody last year were killed and another soldier was injured in a gunfight in Ratnipora area of Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Pulwama district on Tuesday.

The police said that the slain militant Hilal Ahmed Rather had facilitated the escape of LeT commander Muhammad Naveed Jatt alias Abu Hanzala from the police custody at a Srinagar hospital in February 2018.  Jatt was killed in an encounter with security forces in central district of Budgam in November last year.