<p>Five Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were killed in an overnight gun battle between security forces and ultras in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday.</p>.<p>A civilian-protester was also killed while over a dozen others were injured in the clashes that erupted near the battle site as hundreds of protesters pelted stones at the security forces to help the militants break the cordon.</p>.<p>The gunfight broke out late on Friday evening after a joint team of army and police launched a cordon-and-search operation (CASO) at Kilora in Shopian, 56 km from Srinagar, following specific information about the presence of militants in the area, reports said.</p>.<p>While one militant was killed in the initial exchange of firing on Friday night, army recovered bodies of four more ultras on Saturday morning.</p>.<p>“4 more bodies of terrorists visible at encounter site Kiloora Shopian taking the total to 5 terrorists killed. Good Job boys , good for peace (sic),” state police chief Shesh Pal Vaid tweeted.</p>.<p>He said the militants are “learnt to be part of Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit”.</p>.<p>An army spokesman said that weapons were also recovered from the encounter site and the operation is going on.</p>.<p>One of the slain militant, whose body was recovered on Friday evening, has been identified as Umar Malik of Le, he said.</p>.<p>The identity of other slain militants was not immediately known, but apparently they belonged to LeT.</p>.<p>Reports said, as the news about the encounter spread in the area, intense clashes broke out between stone-pelters and security forces in which over a dozen protesters were injured.</p>.<p>One of them succumbed to his injuries at a hospital later, reports added.</p>.<p>Following the killings, authorities ordered suspension of internet services in Shopian “as a precautionary measure” to prevent protests.</p>.<p>There has been a spurt in gun battles between security forces and militants this week.</p>.<p>The latest gun battle comes hours after two militants, including a B.Tech student-turned-ultra, and an army soldier were killed in an encounter in Sopore area of north Kashmir on Friday.</p>.<p>On Thursday, two militants of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit were killed in an encounter after they fired upon security forces in northern Kupwara district.</p>.<p>An INSAS rifle, snatched earlier this week from a policeman in the same district was recovered from them, police said.</p>.<p>The engineering student, who had joined militancy just 48-hours before he was killed in Sopore, according to his family, had ambition of becoming a Kashmir administrative service (KAS) officer and had left his home on Tuesday morning to apply for the exam.</p>.<p>He also had applied for a sub-inspector’s job with the Jammu and Kashmir Police and had also cleared the physical fitness test, they said.</p>
<p>Five Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were killed in an overnight gun battle between security forces and ultras in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday.</p>.<p>A civilian-protester was also killed while over a dozen others were injured in the clashes that erupted near the battle site as hundreds of protesters pelted stones at the security forces to help the militants break the cordon.</p>.<p>The gunfight broke out late on Friday evening after a joint team of army and police launched a cordon-and-search operation (CASO) at Kilora in Shopian, 56 km from Srinagar, following specific information about the presence of militants in the area, reports said.</p>.<p>While one militant was killed in the initial exchange of firing on Friday night, army recovered bodies of four more ultras on Saturday morning.</p>.<p>“4 more bodies of terrorists visible at encounter site Kiloora Shopian taking the total to 5 terrorists killed. Good Job boys , good for peace (sic),” state police chief Shesh Pal Vaid tweeted.</p>.<p>He said the militants are “learnt to be part of Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit”.</p>.<p>An army spokesman said that weapons were also recovered from the encounter site and the operation is going on.</p>.<p>One of the slain militant, whose body was recovered on Friday evening, has been identified as Umar Malik of Le, he said.</p>.<p>The identity of other slain militants was not immediately known, but apparently they belonged to LeT.</p>.<p>Reports said, as the news about the encounter spread in the area, intense clashes broke out between stone-pelters and security forces in which over a dozen protesters were injured.</p>.<p>One of them succumbed to his injuries at a hospital later, reports added.</p>.<p>Following the killings, authorities ordered suspension of internet services in Shopian “as a precautionary measure” to prevent protests.</p>.<p>There has been a spurt in gun battles between security forces and militants this week.</p>.<p>The latest gun battle comes hours after two militants, including a B.Tech student-turned-ultra, and an army soldier were killed in an encounter in Sopore area of north Kashmir on Friday.</p>.<p>On Thursday, two militants of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit were killed in an encounter after they fired upon security forces in northern Kupwara district.</p>.<p>An INSAS rifle, snatched earlier this week from a policeman in the same district was recovered from them, police said.</p>.<p>The engineering student, who had joined militancy just 48-hours before he was killed in Sopore, according to his family, had ambition of becoming a Kashmir administrative service (KAS) officer and had left his home on Tuesday morning to apply for the exam.</p>.<p>He also had applied for a sub-inspector’s job with the Jammu and Kashmir Police and had also cleared the physical fitness test, they said.</p>