SRINAGAR, Nov 30: Indian troops have shot dead two senior guerilla commanders, one of whom had been on the run for 12 years, in occupied Kashmir, the army said on Wednesday.

“Sikander Khan, alias Mama, and his close aide Sheikh Fahad were killed during a gunbattle with soldiers in Nilura village of (southern) Pulwama district,” army spokesman Vijay Batra said.

He said Sikander Khan and Fahad were self-styled divisional commander and district commander respectively of the Al Badr group, which favours Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan.

“He (Khan) has been active in (held) Kashmir for the last 12 years and had been evading arrest,” he said, describing him as a battle-hardened militant.—AFP