Three militants killed, Army officer, six children injured in Kashmir

Three militants and one of their ‘associate’ were killed while an Army officer and seven people, including six children, were injured in militancy related incidents in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district since Sunday evening.

Late on Sunday evening, police claimed to have killed four militants in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The incident was confirmed by the police on its twitter handle- Kashmir Zone police.

However, on Monday morning, police said it recovered only one body. “Only 01 dead body recovered so far from the site of #encounter. Search is going on. Further details shall follow,” a police statement said.

“In view of inputs regarding militants planning to abduct and murder police personnel, exhaustive domination was being carried out by security forces from the last few days. On Sunday, (26 April), one of such patrolling parties of joint forces was attacked by militants numbering four to six in between villages Chehlan and Asthal,” it said.

The statement said that in the exchange of firing that ensued, one Army officer received firearm injuries. “The attack was followed by an exchange of firing between forces and militants in which forces confirmed having hit two to four militants. The exchange of firing stopped around 10 pm. Due to expansive area of search, undulating terrain and total darkness, it was decided to carry out search of the area after first light.

When search started in the morning, body of an unknown militant associate along with a pistol and a grenade was recovered. Besides, six SIM cards were also recovered from his pocket. While a trail of blood was found leading out of the search area which proved that apart from the militant associate killed, one or more militants were injured. The search for injured militants continues,” it added.

With the first light of the day on Monday, another encounter broke out in Lower Munda area of Qazigund in Kulgam district, where police claimed to have killed three militants. The house, as per locals, where militants were hiding, was razed to ground by the security forces.

Tragedy, however, struck the area again after an unexploded material went up injuring seven people including six children, who had assembled at the encounter site.