2 MILITANTS, SOLDIER DIE IN SOUTH KASHMIR GUN BATTLE

SRINAGAR : Two militants and a soldier were killed in a gunfight that raged in south Kashmir on Monday after ultras attacked an army convoy on the national highway in Qazigund,around 70 km from Srinagar.

“Two bodies of terrorists have been recovered,” director general of police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid tweeted.

An army spokesman said the operation was in progress. He confirmed the death of a soldier and injuries to another.

Police said militants first fired at an army patrol injuring two soldiers. After the attackthey militants entered a private house. Local reports said the security forces had blasted the house.

The encounter which continued till late in the evening also disrupted traffic on the highway.

“The place is right on the highway so we had to divert the traffic,” said deputy inspector general (DIG)OF police, South Kashmir, SP Pani.

The official said the traffic movement continued from various connecting roads.

Earlier, the army spokesman said the convoy which was attacked near Qazigund was on its way to Srinagar. DGP Vaid told HT that the fire had come from a house near Qazigund. The area was cordoned triggering an exchange of fire.

Internet services were also suspended in south Kashmir immediately after the gunfight started. Army, BSF and CRPF convoys have become targets of militants many times in the past. In June last year, eight CRPF personnel were killed and 20 injured in an ambush on a convoy in Pampore on the outskirts of Srinagar. In December, three soldiers were killed when motorcycle-borne militants fired on an army bus in south Kashmir.

INTERNET SERVICES WERE ALSO SUSPENDED IN SOUTH KASHMIR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE GUNFIGHT STARTED