Death toll in overnight Kreeri gunfight reaches eight as militant killed, two injured army jawans succumb

The death toll in overnight Kreeri, Baramulla gunfight jumped to eight with the killing of another militant while two soldiers who were critically wounded during the operation succumbed on Tuesday, the army said.

The operation was carried out by security forces after Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants attack on Monday left two CRPF personnel and a Jammu and Kashmir policeman dead in Kreeri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

The security forces had chased the militants after the attack and gunned down two of them during an encounter on Monday.

Defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said that one more militant was killed in the gunfight on Tuesday, taking the number of ultras killed in the operation to three. He said two soldiers who were wounded in the gunfight also succumbed.

“An AK rifle and three pistols were recovered,” he said, adding that the joint operation was in progress.

One of the militants killed on Monday was identified as Sajad alias Haider, a resident of Sopore, who was the top most commander of north Kashmir and figured among 10 most wanted insurgents of J&K.

J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh equated Haider with slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and said the LeT commander was involved in a series of attacks on security forces since 2016.

“Haider was chief recruiter in north Kashmir and was also behind several killings which included panchs and sarpanchs in the northern parts of the Valley,” he said “Haider was the main architect and brain behind the killing of BJP worker Wasim Bari, his brother and father. Besides, he was also responsible for the killing of a CRPF trooper in Sopore on July 1.”