3 AK rifles and other arms and ammunition were recovered from encounter site in Kashmir's Anantnag.
Three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists seen stomping through the snow in a video last week were killed in an encounter with security forces this morning in South Kashmir's Anantnag district. The video was widely circulated on social media as heavily armed men were seen playing and throwing snowballs at each other.
The encounter started on Sunday evening after the army received a tip-off about the presence of the terrorists at the Awoora village near Pahalgam. After more than a 12-hour stand-off, all three were killed.
The army says three AK rifles and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the site.
"Last week, a video surfaced in which six militants were seen. The three militants killed in today's encounter were among the six. These militants were A and A+ category militants and it's a good success for us," said Army's Brigadier R Chakraborty.
Use of social media had once helped Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani to create a larger than life image. After he was killed last July, the local terrorists are increasingly using social media to claim the space he left.
The slain terrorists have been identified as Masoom Ahmad Shah, Abid Sheikh and Adil Reshi -- all residents of Anantnag district in south Kashmir.
Brigadier Chakraborty said by releasing the video, the militants had thrown a challenge, which the army accepted.
"Among other three in the video, two are boys from my area of operation. They joined Lashkar a month ago. I wish these boys realise that militancy is not their place and they return to mainstream," said Brigadier Chakraborty.