Srinagar: Just after the death of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant on Thursday, his associates appeared in the funeral where they offered a gun salute in Tantraypora village of Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Late last night Suhail Ahmad Rather was killed in an encounter with the Indian Armed Forces along with his associate Aqib Itoo in Gopalpora village.
As the gun fight came to an end, protests broke out and thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of Rather and that was where militants offered him a gun salute. Mourners also raised pro-freedom and pro-Islam slogans during the funeral.
The shootout with the Indian Armed Forces was brief in which both the militants were killed. The slain militants have been identified as Aaqib Itoo of Gopalpora, and Suhail Ahmad Rather of Yaripora Kulgam, both of them belonging to the militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen was founded by Muhammad Ahsan Dar in September 1989, a Kashmiri anti-India resistance and designated Islamic militant group. It is designated a militant organization by India, and is active in the state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989.
The current commander of the said group is Sayeed Salahudeen, who holds a radical Islamic and pro-Pakistan ideology, the group is considered to be the largest indigenous militant group in Kashmir. In 1990 Muhammad Ahsan Dar had more than 10,000 armed men under his command.
