Riyaz Naikoo, operational commander of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, and another militant were killed during an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir’s Awantipora. Naikoo, one of Kashmir’s most wanted militant, had taken over the Hizbul leadership in the Valley from Mohammad Yasin Itoo alias Mehmood Ghaznawi after he was killed in August 2017 in a gunfight in Shopian’s Awneera.