Soldier, telecom worker killed in 2 militant attacks in Valley

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 25

Three persons, including a soldier, telecom employee and a militant, were killed in two militant attacks in the Kashmir valley on Monday.

Militants ambushed an Army patrol in Kulgam district of south Kashmir in which a soldier and a militant died. In another attack, the militants carried out shooting in a telecom company outlet in north Kashmir’s Sopore town in which an employee of the BSNL was killed.

The militants ambushed the army patrol in Kangikular village of Kulgam, triggering a brief firefight in which one soldier was injured. Soon after the shooting, the security forces cordoned off the village and launched a search operation during which contact was established with a fleeing militant in a nearby orchard, police and army officials said.

During the subsequent gunfight, the militant was killed, officials said. The militant has been identified as Ayatullah Bhat, a local commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba who was involved in a series of attacks. An Army spokesman said one AK-47 rifle has been recovered from the gunfight site.

The injured soldier identified, whose identity was not immediately confirmed, also succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.

In an earlier attack during the day, an employee of Iqra Telecom, the franchise of BSNL telecom company in Sopore town, 50 km from here, was killed when militants fired at the outlet before escaping from the scene, senior police officials said.

The victim Mohammad Rafiq of Handwara, who was hit by a bullet in the back, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. Two other employees at the outlet were also injured in the attack, which the police suspect was carried out by Hizbul Mujahideen militants. Security forces rushed to the scene of the attack and combed the market but could not establish contact with the militants.

The attack targeting the BSNL outlet comes amid heightened tension in Sopore as militants had told telecom companies to shut their services in the north Kashmir town, which has been a stronghold of separatists. Police suspect the warnings issued by militants this month and today’s attack are linked.

Earlier on Saturday night, militants had hurled two grenades targeting cellular towers in Sopore town. On May 1, militants had raided the offices of several telecom companies in Sopore town and claimed that a device which they had fitted to a mobile phone tower had gone missing and demanded it back immediately.

Police sources said the device had been identified and recovered. “The device was used by militants for their wireless communication and initial investigation suggested it belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen,” a source said.