Two guerrillas gunned down in Kashmir

Two separatist guerrillas were killed on Wednesday in a gunfight with the security forces in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, a police official said.

"Two militants belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen - identified as Riyaz Naik and Lateef Dar - were killed in a gunbattle with the security forces today (Wednesday) in Naina Batpora village," the official told IANS here.

He said the house used as a fortified bunker by the separatists was destroyed in the gunfight.

"We suspect the body of a third militant was buried under the debris," he added.

Troops of the 55 Rashtriya Rifles, 182 and 183 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force and special operations group of the state police surrounded the house of Abdul Salam Wani in Naina Batpora on Tuesday evening after a tip-off on guerrillas hiding there.

When the security forces asked the guerrillas to surrender, they resorted to indiscriminate firing that triggered the gunfight, police said.