Zakir Musa believed to have been killed in encounter in South Kashmir

Zakir Musa, the so-called chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, was believed to have been killed in an encounter with security forces on Thursday in a village in Tral of South Kashmir, officials said.

They said two terrorists were killed in the encounter but there was no confirmation about their identities as the bodies were yet to be retrieved. However, Musa's family confirmed that he was present at the site.

There has been no firing for quite sometime at the encounter site, but security forces are taking precaution before approaching the debris, they said.

Spontaneous protests broke out in Shopian, Pulwama, Awantipora and downtown Srinagar, with people raising slogans in favour of Musa.

Senior police officials said security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Dadsara village and when the terrorists tried to escape a gunfight broke out.

They said efforts were made to make them surrender but the request fell on deaf ears and the holed up terrorists started lobbing grenades using a launcher.

The officials said more security forces were rushed to the area to prevent the terrorists from escaping under the cover of darkness.

In the meantime, Jammu and Kashmir police announced restrictions in some areas of Pulwama, Awantipora, Srinagar, Anantnag and Budgam as a precautionary measure, they said.

The officials said the decision was made keeping in view the Friday prayer gatherings.

Internet was also shutdown as a precautionary measure, they said.