Two Jaish militants killed in encounter

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 22

Two militants of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir Sopore sub-district on Friday, the police said.

The nearly 20-hour gunfight started Thursday evening when a joint team of security forces was carrying out a cordon and search operation at Warpora Sopore, around 60 km from Srinagar, after an input about the presence of militants.

“The operation turned into an encounter when militants opened fire on the forces. In the gunfight that followed, two militants were killed,” a police official said, adding that arms and ammunition was recovered from the site.

A house and a cowshed were also damaged during the encounter, locals said

Deputy Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir, Atul Goel said both militants were associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed. “Although the identities of the two are being ascertained, they belonged to Jaish,” he said.

Goel said a significant time of the operation was spent on evacuating over 40 families. The authorities also snapped Internet services in the area as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order. The authorities had imposed restrictions in some parts of the Sopore area.

Clashes follow

There were reports of clashes around the gunfight site. Youths pelted stones at military personnel apparently to disrupt the counter-militancy operation and assist  holed up militants to escape. The forces used tear smoke shells  to quell the protesters.