Forces kill two militants in Kashmir encounter
OFFENSIVE Gunbattle, which began after police launched search op, was still on POLICE SAID ONE MILITANT WAS STILL FIGHTING AND ALL 3 OF THEM WERE LOCALS
Two militants were killed and a civilian was critically wounded during an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Kashmir on Monday morning.
Police have identified one of the dead militants as Kifayat. Details about the identity of the other militant are awaited and the operation is still going on, said a police spokesperson.
“Two militants were killed in the encounter. According to our input one more is still fighting,” director general of police SP Vaid told news agency AFP. Another police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said all three fighters were locals.
The Central Reserve Police Force assisted the police in the operation. Security forces launched a search operation in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama on Monday morning following information about presence of militants in the area, a police spokesman said.
Monday’s offensive in Pulwama came barely 10 hours after civilian protesters helped a group of militants to escape a cordon in Malangpora village in the same district.
On Saturday, Lashkar-eToiba commander Bashir Lashkari -- who was behind the killing of SHO Feroz Dar last month -and his accomplice were gunned down in an encounter . A policeman was injured when militants attacked a police party in Anantnag town of south Kashmir on Monday morning.
Jammu-Kashmir police tweeted from its official handle, "Police man shot at by terrorists at bus stand #Anantnag. Referred to Srinagar."
Constable Ghulam Hassan was shot in the neck by militants from close range at Anantnag bus stand, a police official said.
The injured policeman was taken to district hospital Anantnag from where he was referred to 92 Base Hospital of the Army in view of his “critical” condition.
Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, who has been branded as a ‘global terrorist’ by the United States, admitted in a TV interview to having carried out terror attacks on Indian soil.
“Till now our focus was on Indian occupation forces. All the operations that we have done or are underway, we focus only on the installations of these occupational forces,” Salahuddin said in an interview with Geo TV.
Informing that he carried out many ‘operations’ in India, Salahuddin said: “If we would have taken our operations out of Kashmir at that time, India would get a chance to label Kashmir-e-Tehreek a terrorist organization. We have support and we can target any place in India, at anytime,” he said.
Reacting to the interview, home ministry spokesperson Ashok Prasad said government had been describing Salahuddin as a terrorist all along, and his own remarks had confirmed that.