Srinagar, May 4: A civilian was killed while three soldiers were injured when militants attacked an army patrol in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Thursday evening. Another encounter between ultras and forces was going on in neighbouring Kulgam district.
Reports said militants opened fire on a patrol party of Army’s 62-Rashtriya Rifles in Imam Sahib area of Shopian, 55 kms from here, at around 6.30 pm, when the troops were withdrawing from a search operation. The driver of a Sumo vehicle in which the army men were travelling was killed in the attack while three troopers were injured.
Militants managed to escape from the spot taking advantage of the darkness after carrying out the attack, sources said. The attack came hours after security forces launched a massive cordon and search operation to flush out hiding militants in Shopian. However, the operation was called off in the evening.
Meanwhile, an encounter between militants and security forces started in Khudwani area of Kulgma district late in the evening. Sources said security forces launched a search operation in Khudwani after specific information about the presence of three to four militants in the area. As forces zeroed in on the area where militants were hiding, they fired on the search party, triggering a gun battle.
“The cordon has been strengthened to prevent the militants from escaping. So far, there have been no casualties,” a police official said, adding one of the most wanted militants Junaid Matu of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen is believed to be trapped in the cordon.
Reports said hundreds of villages including women were trying to march towards the encounter site to help the hiding militants to escape. The protesters were throwing stones on security forces who restored with tear smoke shelling. The stone-pelting protests were going on in the area till late in the evening.
Comments
Add new comment