CO, 2 officers trapped inside Kupwara house
Forces haven’t been able to get in touch with the team
SRINAGAR: A team of security personnel, led by a senior army officer, was locked in a gunfight with the militants inside a house in north Kashmir’s Kupwara, police said on Saturday.
The forces have not been able to get in touch with the team headed by the commanding officer of 21 Rashtriya Rifles till the filing of the report. Sources said army and police launched a joint operation in the forests of Handwara’s Rajwar after receiving inputs about presence of militants in the area. As the operation was underway, the militants came into village near the forest and went inside the house that has a cowshed near to it.
Sources said the CO, a major and a police officer took refuge inside a house as they thought that militants were hiding inside the cowshed. The moment they entered the house, a gunfight ensued. The firing has been underway and the army and a team of special operations group of J&K police have surrounded the house. Defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia didn’t respond to phone calls made by HT.
In a separate encounter, two unidentified militants were killed in Pulwama district. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the south Kashmir district’s Dangerpora village based on specific inputs about presence of militants in the area, a police official said. When the forces were conducting searches in the area, the militants opened fire at them. An encounter ensued as the forces retaliated, he said, adding that the identity and group affiliation of the slain militants are being ascertained.