One more militant killed in Kupwara

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 24

An unidentified militant was killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s frontier district of Kupwara today, taking the toll of militants killed so far to seven in three encounters in the district since Thursday.

The unidentified militant was killed in Petha Waderbala, Handwara, 95 km from Srinagar, where an anti-militancy operation was going on in the forest area since Thursday morning after a group of two-three militants was intercepted by security forces. There was a brief exchange of fire on Thursday and searches were carried out in the dense forest area for the whole day.

The militants were again spotted late on Thursday night and in the gunfight that ended on Friday morning one militant was killed, a defence source said. There is a possibility that two militants managed to get away, but the search operation is still underway.

The identity of the slain militant was being established, but most probably he was a Pakistani national, the source said.

The gunfight site Waderbala, is close to the Line of Control and very near Hafruda forests in Kupwara. The district over the years has seen deadly firefights.

On Thursday, the Army and police had killed six militants in the two different operations in Kupwara district. Three militants each were killed in Warnow Lolab and Waterkhani Drugmulla. The Army said that all six slain militants were Pakistanis and belonged to militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba.

“We recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition from the six terrorists. Eatables and medicines with Pakistani marking were recovered from them,” Brigadier 8 sector Rashtriya Rifles Rajiv Puri told reporters in Kupwara.

Meanwhile, a major tragedy was averted in Srinagar when security forces detected an improvised explosive device (IED) in Hyderpora area. The IED weighing five kilogrammes was hidden in a rice cooker and was detected by the police near a flyover at Hyderpora on Friday morning. The IED was later destroyed by a bomb disposal squad.

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Box

14 militants killed in nine days

June 16: Four militants and a solider were killed as the Army foiled infiltration bid in the Tangdhar sector

June 17: Two local militants of Hizbul Mujahideen killed in the Bomai Sopore gunfight.

June 18: A Pakistani militant killed in an encounter in Ladhoo Pampore

June 23: Six militants killed in two gunfights in Lolab and Drugmulla Kupwara

June 24: One militant killed in Handwara Waderbal