KO File Photo: Abid Bhat
Two Soldiers Also Injured, Airlifted To Army Hospital
Srinagar: Three local militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed and two soldiers injured in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police said Wednesday.
Acting on specific input about the presence of militants, police, army’s 9 RR and the personnel of CRPF18 battalion cordoned off the Chimmer area of the district on Wednesday afternoon and launched a search operation, a police spokesperson said. When the joint team zeroed in on the suspected spot, the holed-up militants, he said, turned down the surrender offer and opened indiscriminate fire leaving two soldiers injured.
Both the soldiers, police spokesperson said, were airlifted to Srinagar based Army hospital.
He further said that the search team also retaliated to the militants firing leading to an encounter.
In the ensuing encounter, the police spokesperson said, three militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter.
He identified the trio as Shahnawaz Ahmad of Shopian and Waseem Ahmad Bangroo and Zakir Bashir of Kulgam. All the three militants, he said, were affiliated with ‘The Resistance Front’, an offshoot of Lashkar.
“Pertinently, Zakir Bashir had recently joined the outfit. As per police records, all the killed militants were part of a group involved in various militancy crimes,” the police spokesperson said.
He further said that incriminating material including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter.
“In this connection police have registered a case under relevant sections of law and investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared off of all the explosive materials, if any,” he added.
Today’s encounter comes barely a day after two militants, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Nadeem Abrar and a Pakistani national were killed in an overnight encounter in Maloora area of the city outskirts on Tuesday.
Abrar, who was arrested by state forces from Parimpora on Monday, as per police, was killed when he was leading a joint team of police and CRPF to recover a rifle from a house in Maloora.
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