3 militants gunned down in Valley’s Tral

IST ENCOUNTER OF 2019 Militants affiliated to Jaish, Hizbul outfits open fire at patrol team, soldier also injured in gunfight

CLASHES BROKE OUT IN TRAL TOWN AND BATAGUND VILLAGE AND PROTESTERS HURLED STONES ON THE POLICE AND CRPF; 11 VILLAGERS WERE INJURED

SRINAGAR:IN the first encounter of 2019, army and police in a joint operation killed three local militants at Gulshanpora Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday.

Police said militants were affiliated with Jaish and Hizbul militant groups. The encounter commenced on Thursday when troops from of 42 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operation Group of J&K Police laid cordon around Gulshanpora village around six kilometres from Tral town.

As search was underway in the nearby forests, an encounter broke out between the militants and the forces in which three militants were killed. A soldier was also injured in the gunfight.

Officials said this time army and police had laid cordon around forest area which is connected with Khrew forest range, as twice militants had managed to escape from the cordon and search operations last year.

The forces were able to engage militants soon after cordon and search operations (CASO) were launched. A police spokesperson said that operation was conducted on the basis of a tip-off about the presence of militants in higher reaches of Tral.

“While searching for militants, the party was fired upon by the terrorists. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight. In the ensuing encounter, three terrorists were neutralised and the bodies were recovered from the site of encounter,” he said.

Police identified the slain militants as Zubair Ahmad Bhat alias Abu Huraira of Chursoo Awantipora, Shakoor Ahmad Parray alias Jaffar of Laribal Tral and Tawseef Ahmad Thoker alias Abu Talha son of Chursoo Bunpora, Awantipora.

Police said it was a combined group of Jaish and the Hizbul Mujahideen. “As per police records, Zubair was affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JEM while Shakoor and Tawseef were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit HM,” police spokesperson said.as the operation was underway, clashes broke out in Tral town and Batagund village and protestors pelted stones on the central reserve police force (CRPF) and police. Eleven villagers sustained injuries in the clashes.

CITIZENS SUSTAIN ED PELLET INJURIES

A doctor at Tral sub-district hospital said that 11 people were brought to hospital and majority of them had pellet injuries. “All of the injured people were discharged after primary treatment,’’ he said. On Tuesday evening militants had killed a police constable at Hanjan Payeen which was the first killing of the 2019 in Kashmir.