4 militants, minor killed in two Valley encounters

Suhail A Shah & Majid Jahangir

Anantnag / Srinagar, June 29

Stepping up their offensive, security forces killed four militants in two different operations in the Valley even as three soldiers were injured in a militant attack on Friday.

A minor was also killed in clashes near the encounter site in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district where three militants were killed in a gunfight. The encounter broke out about 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon at Chatpora in Pulwama about half an hour after a cordon and search operation was initiated by the joint forces after an input about militant presence.

“We had specific inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area. The area was cordoned off and searches were being carried out when militants opened fire from one of the residential houses,” a senior police officer from Pulwama said.

While there is no official confirmation on the identity of the three militants killed in Pulwama, the Lashkar-e-Toiba said the three were members of the group. The group identified the three as Lashkar commander Abu Hanzala Firdous, Abu Mansoor Sajjad and Abu Tayyab Bilal.

Director General of Police SP Vaid said, “All three terrorists have been eliminated in the Pulwama encounter.”

Meanwhile, as the anti-militancy operation was underway, clashes erupted in the area as a large number of people tried to march towards the site of the encounter. Local sources said the security forces fired bullets, pellets and tearsmoke shells at the protesting people leaving at least eight injured.

“One of the injured, a minor, was brought dead to the hospital. He is the son of one of our staff members here,” a medico at the Pulwama district hospital said.

The minor has been identified as Faizan Ahmad, a Class IX student and son of Dr Abdul Gani, who is posted at District Hospital in Pulwama.

SSP, Pulwama, Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, confirmed the killing of the student and called it “unfortunate”. “We do not know the actual circumstances that led to his killing but initial reports suggest that he has been hit by a stray bullet near the site of the encounter,” Aslam said.

Meanwhile, at least three soldiers were injured after militants attacked Army men near Goodwill Public School at Ahgam in south Kashmir’s volatile Shopian district.

The militant attack took place about 8:45 am. A police spokesman said militants lobbed a grenade and opened fire on a group of Army personnel when they were busy opening the Goodwill School.

“In this incident, three Army personnel sustained injuries. They were subsequently admitted to hospital for medical attention. Army personnel exercised maximum restrain to avoid any damage to civil population and students around,” the spokesman said. Following the attack, the whole area was cordoned off and searches were conducted to try and nab the attackers.

Militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad in a statement to a local news agency in Srinagar owned responsibility for the attack.

In another incident, an unidentified militant was killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district in the wee hours on Friday. The gunfight erupted when forces launched a search operation near Trehgam in Kupwara forest, over 100 km from Srinagar, after an input about militant presence. “One terrorist was killed in an encounter this morning. The operation is over,” Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said.

Minor killed was son of Pulwama doctor 

• A minor killed in clashes near the encounter site in south Kashmir's Pulwama was the son of a doctor posted at District Hospital in Pulwama. He has been identified as Faizan Ahmad, a Class IX student
• SSP, Pulwama, Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, confirmed the killing of the student, calling it "unfortunate". "We do not know the actual circumstances that led to his killing but initial reports suggest that he has been hit by a stray bullet near the site of the encounter," he said

Guard attacked in north Kashmir 

• Militants also targeted a guard from the minority community in north Kashmir's Sopore area on Thursday night. However, there was no loss of ant life in the incident
• The police said on Thursday night, unknown militants fired upon a guard from the minority community at Yaribugh in Sopore which was retaliated by the alert sentry on duty. The militants escaped taking advantage of the darkness