Three militants killed in encounter in south Kashmir’s Shopian

Six ultras gunned down in Valley in 24 hours

SRINAGAR : Three militants were killed in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday morning.

The army said a joint operation was launched by the army, police and the CRPF at Amshipora village in Shopian district.

“The search and cordon operation turned into an encounter, in which three unidentified militants were killed. The militants fired from a cowshed of a lone house located in an orchard,” the spokesperson said.

This was the second encounter in south Kashmir in the last 24 hours. Earlier, on Friday, three Jaish militants were killed in Kulgam district. Those killed included a Pakistani commander, identified as Waleed, who was reportedly an IED expert. Police said Waleed had been active in the area for the past 18 months and had escaped four cordon and search operations in the recent past.police said identification of the militants was underway and DNA samples had been taken from bodies of the slain militants.

Over the last three months, bodies of militants, including locals are not being handed over to family members and are instead being buried in Baramulla, Kupwara and Ganderbal districts at times in the presence of the family members.

Last month, police had recorded the highest number of militant deaths. As many as 48 militants were killed in different encounters in the Valley, mostly in the four districts of south Kashmir. Since January this year, 136 militants have been killed in different encounters across the Kashmir. Among the dead militants many were top commanders of different militant outfits including Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander Riyaz Naikoo.the police and army has compiled a fresh list of the top militant commanders who are active in the Valley. Recently, top police officials said fresh militant recruitment had come down in the first six months. However, reports from the ground suggest that despite the killing of militants in encounters, new recruitment still takes place, especially in south Kashmir.