Three militants killed in Uri encounter

IN ANOTHER INCIDENT, 3 SECURITY PERSONNEL SUFFERED MINOR INJURIES IN A GRENADE ATTACK IN SOPORE

SRINAGAR: Three militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in north Kashmir’s Uri area, near the Line of Control (LOC) on Sunday, a senior police officer said.

Police has added that preliminary investigations have revealed that the slain militants were Pakistani operatives of the banned terror-outfit Lashkar-eTaiba (LET).

The gun battle in Uri, in Baramulla district, ensued when security forces on Saturday night spotted a suspicious movement of militants in the Kalgai area and laid a cordon.

Police said they found that one of the militants had forcibly entered a home and taken family members hostage. In the early hours of the morning, police res- cued the trapped civilians and eliminated the militant. “Hunt for two other terrorists was launched and one terrorist was found to had taken refuge in a local mosque. Therefore keeping in view the sanctity of the mosque a J&K Police team entered into the mosque and without causing any harm to mosque eliminated this terrorist as well. The third terrorist was also killed later on,” a police spokesperson said.

Three AK rifles, 10 AK magazines, 10 grenades, one UBGL and other war like stores were recovered from the militants’ possession, the spokesperson added.

The border town of Uri had made headlines in September last year when four militants had entered an army camp and killed 19 soldiers, before being gunned down.

In another incident, three security personnel — two policemen and a CRPF jawan — suffered minor injuries when suspected militants lobbed a grenade at their vehicle in Sopore town of north Kashmir on Sunday morning.