Senior militant leader shot dead by forces in Kashmir

Srinagar: Security forces in Indian Kashmir shot dead a senior leader of a Pakistan-based militant group late on Tuesday, dealing another blow to militants in the region, police said.

Police identified the dead militant as Sajad Afghani, a Pakistani national and "chief operations commander" of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen militant group.

Almost a dozen senior rebel members have been killed in gun battles in the troubled region this year, according to police.

Afghani was killed in an abandoned hospital building in Sopore town, north of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, a day after the "financial chief" of Hizbul Mujahideen, the region's main militant group was shot dead.

The group is fighting against Indian troops for more than a decade in the Himalayan region.