3 CIVILIANS, ONE SOLDIER KILLED IN KASHMIR GUNBATTLE

Three civilians, including two teenagers, and an army soldier were killed during a gunbattle in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Wednesday, while separatists called a shutdown on Thursday in protest against the death of the civilains.

The killings – coming on the heels of a bloody gun-battle last week that left 13 militants, four civilians and three soldiers dead – has left the Valley tense with authorities suspending highspeed internet in several parts of the region, including Srinagar.

A police spokesperson confirmed early morning that a cordon and search operation was launched in Kulgam after input of militant presence in the Khudwani area. Search operations were going on at the time of filing this report.

Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said that Rao (24) had sustained bullet injury during the operation. He was a native of Andhra Pradesh and had joined the army in 2012. A police spokesperson identified the three dead civilians as Sharjeel Ahmed Sheikh of Khudwani, Bilal Ahmed Tantray of Frisal and Faisal Ilahi of Melhoora, Shopian. He said that they were injured in “cross-fire” before succumbing to their injuries.

Health department officials in south Kashmir said that the three had bullet injuries while adding that Sheikh was 28 year-old, and Tantray and Ilahi were around 16.

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