2 militants killed in J& K; civilian dies in clash

◗ The incidents triggered a fresh wave of protests & clashes in several parts of south Kashmir during which more than 100 people were injured

Two Jaish- e- Muhammad ( JeM) militants, one of them believed to be a Pakistani national, and a civilian were killed in a gunfight and clashes between mobs and the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Shopian district on Tuesday.

Two Army personnel, including a JCO, were injured in the gunfight in Shopian’s Kundalan village, officials said.

The incidents led to a fresh wave of protests and clashes in several parts of south Kashmir, including Kundalan, and over 100 people were injured, some of them seriously, the officials added.

The officials identified the slain militants as Samir Ahmed Sheikh, a local Kashmiri, and his Pakistani accomplice Babar.

Two Jaish- e- Muhammad ( JeM) militants, one of them believed to be a Pakistani national, and a civilian were killed in a gunfight and instantaneous clashes between surging mobs and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Shopian district on Tuesday.

Two Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Office ( JCO), were injured in the gunfight in Shopian Kundalan village, officials said.

The incidents triggered a fresh wave of protests and clashes in several parts of south Kashmir, including Kundalan, during which more than 100 people were injured, some of them seriously.

The officials identified the slain militants as Samir Ahmed Sheikh, a local Kashmiri, and his Pakistani accomplice Babar. They said that a youth, Tamsheel Ahmed Khan, was caught in cross fire during the encounter between militants holed up in a private house and the security forces and died in the hospital later.

However, the locals said that he was part of a crowd which protested near the site of the encounter and was fired upon by security forces. The witnesses said the security forces fired live ammunition into protesters and stone- throwing crowds near the site of the encounter. The hospital sources said that six people have received bullet and seventeen others pellet injuries.

Yet another person identified as Muhammad Ishaq Naikoo, father of a militant, died after suffering cardiac arrest while the fire fight was underway. His family claimed that he collapsed on hearing that one of the two militants trapped at Kundalan after the security forces laid siege to the village to conduct a search operation was his son Zeenat. The rumour turned out to be false.

“Joint Resistance Leadership ( JRL)”, the alliance of key separatist leaders, has called for a shutdown in Kashmir on Wednesday to mourn and protests the killings.