A complete shutdown is being observed in Safanagri and Awneera villages of south Kashmir’s Shopian district, in response to the killing of two Hizb militants during a gunfight with government forces in Safanagri Shopian on Tuesday.
An eyewitness said that all the shops, and other business establishments in twin villages of the district are closed, and traffic is off the roads.
Reports said that people from the Shopian and its neighboring districts are visiting the residence of the militants to offer condolences to the families of slain duo identified as Mohammad Idrees Sultan, alias Chota Abrar, son of Mohammad Sultan, a resident of Safanagri Shopian, and Amir Hussain Rather, alias Abu Sobaan, son of Mohammad Amin Rather, a resident of Awneera Shopian.
On Tuesday, the encounter begun during pre-dawn hours after a joint team of army and SOG launched a cordon-and-search operation at Safanagri following specific inputs about the presence of some militants. As such the joint team of forces intensified the searches and fired some warning shots towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants opened fire triggering off a gunfight.