3 Jaish rebels shot dead in J& K firefight
Three Jaish- e- Muhammad militants were killed Tuesday in an encounter with security forces after being trapped in a remote village of Kashmir’s Pulwama district Monday.
The gunfight between the three holed- up militants and the forces erupted Monday evening after the latter laid siege to Hanjan Balla village in Pulwama on getting information about the presence of militants there.
“All three terrorists have been gunned down and three weapons recovered,” an Army official told reporters in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Soon after the militants were killed, surging crowds demanded their corpses be handed over to locals for burial, but the police refused, resulting in street clashes.
Giving the details of encounter, defence spokesperson SD Goswami said the three Jaish- e-Muhammad militants were killed in a joint operation launched by Army, local police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group ( SOG) and CRPF and that two AK 47 rifles and one self- loading rifle besides ammunition and other “war- like stores” were found on them.
“Yesterday ( Monday) evening, based on a specific intelligence input about presence of three terrorists in Hajan Bala village of Rajpora, a joint operation was launched by the Army, J& K police and CRPF. A tight cordon was established, blocking all escape routes,” the spokesperson said.
He added, “As the search operation commenced in the morning ( Tuesday), the terrorists hiding in the village opened fire upon the troops to break the cordon. The fire was retaliated, ensuing heavy exchange of fire resulting in the elimination of all the three militants.”
A statement issued by police said the slain militants included district commander of the Jaish, Altaf Ahmed Rather, and his two accomplices Showkat Ahmed and Farooq Ahmed. “Altaf was involved in many militancy related activities including the attack and weapon snatching incident from police guard at Pakharpora shrine in district Budgam this year,” it added.
Showkat, police sources said, had joined the militant ranks only on August 19. The security forces had brought his father the encounter site to persuade him through him to surrender but his repeated pleas evoked no response.
As the news of militants’ death spread in the area, hundreds of youth took to streets and clashed with police and CRPF. The protesters chanting anti- India slogans were demanding the bodies of the militants. The police fired dozens of teargas canisters to break up the protests.
Meanwhile, an Army major and three jawans killed and six others were injured after a vehicle in which they were travelling in overturned near Kalaroos forest area of Lolab valley in Jammu and Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district on Tuesday. The firefights between infiltrating militants and Army troops that began in early August have continued in Kalaroos and neighbouring villages.