Top Hizbul commander, soldier killed in encounter in Jammu & Kashmir’s Doda district

Doda / Jammu: A top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander wanted in the killing of an RSS functionary and his PSO was killed in a gun­fight with forces in J&K’s Doda on Sunday. An Army man lost his life in the 5-hour-long encounter which started when the forces launched a joint search in Posta-Potra village in Gundana area, 26 kms from Doda town, following information about presence of terr­o­r­ists, officials said. They said the search was on as forces were remo­v­ing the debris of the 3-storey house. “We have recovered the body of a terrorist, Tahir Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Malangpora village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, from the scene so far. The decea­sed was a close aide of newly-appointed HM operational chief Saifullah and was assigned the task of reviving terrorism in Chenab valley region,” IGP, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh said in Jammu.