2 MILITANTS KILLED

SRINAGAR:TWO militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district Friday, police said.

Police said the militants fired at the security forces during a cordon and search operation in Warpora area of Sopore, leading to a gunfight.

deputy commissioner Mohammed Ajaz Assad visited the area. “The villagers want to stay back. We have set up camps and informed them about the evacuation plan,” he said. In the evening, there were reports of intermittent cross-border firing in Kalal and adjoining areas.

Far away from the villages along the LOC, on the Jammusrinagar highway where the suicide bomber struck last week, it is business as usual. Since then, the forces have moved nearly 2,000 personnel in convoys.

On Thursday, the Union home ministry released a statement saying all paramilitary personnel deployed in Jammu and Kashmir would be entitled to take commercial flights to either join duty or go on leave. The government also cleared airlifting paramilitary troopers on the Jammu-srinagar, Srinagar-jammu and other sectors.

A day earlier, on Wednesday, the CRPF moved 1,100 men in a convoy of 40 vehicles from Jammu to Srinagar despite the February 14 attack. “Although we can airlift men, a force cannot be scared. Importantly, one of the key duties is to keep highways open and dominate them,” said a senior CRPF officer who did not want to be named. On February 16 and 17, about 850 soldiers were moved from Srinagar to Jammu along the same highway. “Whenever required, we will keep moving soldiers,” he said.