A dozen families left roofless after Srinagar encounter

Rifat Mohidin

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 21

Two days after the gunbattle in Srinagar’s Nawa Kadal locality, Shakeela Irfan sat on the lawn looking at her house gutted in the gunfight. Six houses were completely damaged and five others suffered partial damage in the encounter.

Shakeela along with her two children, husband and father-in-law were in the house when the cordon and search operation started in the congested locality, she said.

“The forces knocked at our door and then went upstairs to take position. They told us to lie down and not make any noise. We didn’t understand what was going on,” said Shakeela, who was surrounded by neighbours who had come to see the damage to the house.

The family huddled together in a room throughout the night as the gunfight raged. They were evacuated in the morning.

“My children were scared. It was a nightmare,” she said.

Two militants, including Hizbul Mujahideen commander Junaid Sehrai, were killed in the gunfight.

The gunfight has left 12 families without a roof and they are now staying at a marriage hall.

A woman, whose house was also gutted in the incident, said: “We are homeless now and living in a marriage hall.”