SRINAGAR, March 5 - Two militants and a policeman were killed in a fierce gun battle at Tral in south Kashmir which lasted for nearly 12 hours.
One militant was a Hizbul Mujahideen operative identified as Aaquib Bhat alias Aaquib Maulvi, who was active in the area for the last three years. The other militant, Saif-ul-lah alias Osama, was a Pakistani terrorist working with Jaish-e-Mohammed, official sources said.
A police constable, Manzoor Ahmed Niak of Uri, was also killed after he took on the militants head on during the operation which began at 7 pm last night and continued till 6.30 am, officials said.
A holed-up Bhat had called his father in the wee hours of the morning and bid his final goodbye to him, they said. He was a local resident and his ancestral house was at Hyena in Tral area itself.
Security forces had received an input about the presence of two militants in the residence of a carpenter after which police, army and CRPF threw a cordon around it. � PTI
