6 cops, 2 civilians, 1 soldier killed in J&K
SRINAGAR: In yet another militant attack within three weeks, terrorists on Friday ambushed a police party on the outskirts of Anantnag district and killed six policemen, including a Station House Officer of Achabal area.
The deaths were part of a particularly bloody day in the region, where a soldier and two civilians were killed. The civilians were shot dead when police opened fire on alleged stone-pelters interfering in an encounter with three holed up Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
Ahsan Mushtaq (15) and Mohammad Ashraf Khar (34) were killed after being hit by bullets.
In Naushera, along the LoC, Naik Bakhtawar Singh was injured before he succumbed to his wounds while being evacuated to the military hospital, he said. He was shot by Pakistani forces who opened fire from across the LoC.
A soldier was killed and another injured in Pakistani shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Friday morning, officials said.
The dead soldier was identified as 34-year-old Naik Bakhtawar Singh of 8 Sikh Light Infantry, and a resident of Punjab’s Hajipur village .
“Pakistan Army opened heavy fire around 4am and the exchange lasted for around 20 minutes. During brief exchanges, two Indian soldiers were injured at Kalsian. One of them died around 5am,” an intelligence official said.
Nowshera sub-divisional magistrate Harbans Lal Sharma and Nowshera police station head Kuldip Krishan confirmed that the soldier died around 5am when he was hit by a mortar shell at a forward post in Kalsian area of Nowshera sector.
Defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said the Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked firing on Indian Army posts in Nowshera sector around 0515 hours on Friday morning.
The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, and in the exchange of fire, Bakhtawar Singh was grievously injured and succumbed to his injuries while being evacuated to the military hospital, he said.
Bakhtawar Singh is survived by his wife, Jasbir Kaur, and three minor children.
A wreath-laying ceremony will be held in Rajouri on Saturday. The soldier’s body will be taken to his native village where the last rites will take place with full military honours.
The identity of the injured soldier has not been ascertained yet.