Three CRPF jawans killed, two hurt in Sopore militant attack

Three CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel were killed while two others were injured when militants attacked a paramilitary party in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Saturday.

Reports said the militants opened fire on a joint party of CRPF and police at Noorbagh near Ahad Bab’s crossing in Sopore, 52 km from here, injuring five paramilitary personnel. The injured were evacuated to a nearby hospital, where two among them were declared dead on arrival while the third succumbed later.

J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh while confirming the incident said three CRPF jawans were killed and two others injured in the militant attack. He said the militants attacked a CRPF vehicle on duty in Sopore town.

Soon after the incident security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to nab the attackers, reports said.

On April 8, security forces had killed a Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) commander in an encounter in Sopore. On April 5, five unidentified militants and an equal number of soldiers were killed as the Army foiled an infiltration bid by ultras along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. In fact, there are ample signs that after a hiatus of some years, militancy is returning to north Kashmir - a one-time hub of the Valley’s pro-Pakistan militant groups.

While most of the encounters in recent months have been happening in southern districts of Kulgam, Shopian, and Pulwama, a senior police officer said, north Kashmir has more battle-hardened militants active on the ground than the South.

“Contrary to what is being projected in the media that south Kashmir is a hotbed of militancy, the figures reveal that the north has more active militants. The militants in the north are mostly foreigners,” he told DH.