Hizbul militant, Pak fighter killed in Tral
Security forces eliminate militants in Burhan Wani’s hometown after 18hr gunfight as CRPF men fend off stonepelters
SRINAGAR: A policeman and two militants were killed on Sunday in a fierce 18-hour gunfight in south Kashmir’s Tral, as people from neighbouring villages threw stones at security personnel to disrupt the counter-insurgency operation.
The overnight exchange in the hometown of militant Burhan Wani, whose killing triggered five months of unrest in the Kashmir Valley last year, left a local militant, Aqib Maulvi, and a Pakistani dead, director general of police SP Vaid said.
Maulvi was a top commander of the Hizbul Mujahedeen, the state’s police chief said.
The identity of the Pakistani militant was being ascertained, sources said. Police constable Manzoor Ahmed Naik of Uri was also killed in the operation that began at 7pm Saturday.
As security forces took on the militants holed up in the house of a carpenter in Hafoo area, hundreds of people from nearby 10 villages gathered closed to site and started to protest, eyewitnesses said. Some of them resorted to stone pelting, forcing security forces to use teargas and fire in the air, sources said.
Some miscreants also snatched the rifle of a Central Reserve Police Force man. Police downplayed the incident saying it was “minor” and situation was “well under control”. Army chief general Bipin Rawat recently warned civilians against preventing forces from carrying out antiterror operations or searches.