Hizb chief operational commander Saifullah killed

Srinagar, Nov 1 (IANS) Hizbul Mujahideen chief operational commander Dr Saifullah has been killed during an encounter with police and security forces at Rangreth in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar district on Sunday, officials said.Saifullah had taken over as the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen after the killing of Riyaz Naikoo in May. A top police officer said the operation was based on hard intelligence generated by the police.Earlier, the firefight between terrorists and security forces took place after security forces cordoned off the area and launced a search operation on the basis of a specific information about presence of terrorists.As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.
--IANS zi/pgh