J&K militant caught alive
Two Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militants including its ‘divisional commander’ for south Kashmir were killed and their third accomplice was caught alive during a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district on Sunday.
While the firefight was underway, intense clashes erupted between surging crowds and security forces in the area, reports said.
A local youth identified as Yawar Ahmed Dar was killed when hit in the chest in security forces firing, witnesses said. About a dozen other protesters were injured in the clashes, the hospital sources said. The police, however, said that the civilian casualties occurred in crossfire during the encounter.
The J&K police and Army officials here said that the encounter broke out in Chidder village of Kulgam’s Qaimoh tehsil early Sunday after the security forces including the Army’s 1 Rashtriya Rifles, the J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group and the Central Reserve Police Force launched a cordon-andsearch operation following inputs about the presence of militants there.
Two Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militants including its ‘divisional commander’ for south Kashmir were killed and their third accomplice was caught alive during a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district on Sunday.
“In the ensuing encounter, two militants were killed while a third one surrendered and was subsequently arrested by the security forces,” a police spokesman said. The officials said one of the slain men is Shakoor Ahmed Dar, an A++ category militant. The officials said that the trio had been trapped in a private house during the search operation and when the security forces zeroed in on it the militants opened fire, triggering the encounter. However, one of them Shakir Ahmed subsequently gave up and handed himself over to the security forces. Shakir had joined the LeT a few months ago, the police sources said.
Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid tweeted, “Two terrorists killed are reportedly Shakoor Dar Divisional Commander LET & one FT (foreign terrorist). Efforts on to establish their identity. Great job boys”.
The police said the slain militant Shakoor Ahmed Dar, a resident of Sopat Tengpora and divisional commander of LeT, was involved in several terror-related cases registered in different police stations.