26/11 mastermind Lakhvi’s nephew among 6 militants killed in J-K gunfight

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, November 18

A commando of the Indian Air Force and six militants were killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s Bandipore district on Saturday, the Army said.

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The gunfight erupted at Chandrageer Hajin, 32 km from Srinagar, when joint teams of Police, Army and CRPF launched an operation after an intelligence reports said militants were hiding in the area.

“As the cordon a search operation was launched in the area, militants fired at party to break the cordon. In the gunfight so far six militants were killed,” an Army officer said.

One of the six militants killed was 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew Owaid.

READ: Restrictions in parts of Srinagar after militant killed in shootout

The officer who was killed was a commando of Indian Air Force elite’s special forces unit Garud. A soldier was also wounded. 

The five dead militants have not been identified yet, but security forces suspect they belong to Lashkar-e-Toiba, the officer said.

Hajin has witnesses many gunfights between militants and forces in the past few months. 

Two Indian Air Force (IAF) Garud commandos were killed in a firefight in Hajin that also left two militants — one of them a local —  dead last month. — With agencies