LeT militant killed in Kashmir encounter

A Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant was on Tuesday killed in an encounter with security forces in a village about 35 kms from Srinagar in Pulwama district.

Jehangir Ahmad Ganie, who had reportedly joined the LeT recently, was killed in a brief exchange of fire at village Kawini this evening, a police officer said.

He said the encounter took place when security forces launched a search and cordon operation following specific information about presence of militants in the village.

Hiding militants lobbed a grenade and fired on the search party, forcing retaliation, the officer said.

After a brief gun battle, the body of Ganie, a resident of Koil village, was found at the scene, the officer said.

Two hand grenades were recovered from the possession of the deceased.

He said the search operation in the village was still continuing when last reports were received.