JOIN USFive militants, including a juvenile, killed in encounters in Kashmir
Five local militants, including a juvenile, were killed in two separate overnight encounters with security forces in Shopian and Anantnag districts of south Kashmir on Sunday.
Police said three militants were killed in an encounter in Chitragam, Shopian, 56 kms from here. The gunfight erupted on Saturday evening in an orchard after security forces cordoned off the area following inputs about the presence of militants there.
The hiding militants opened fire on the security forces thereby triggering off a gunfight, reports said. In the ensuing firefight, three militants were killed, a police official said and added one of them was a juvenile and newly recruited ultra.
The family of the juvenile slain ultra, identified as Faisal Gular, a student of class 10th, was reportedly brought to the gunfight site by the police to persuade him to surrender.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said they made “sincere efforts” to persuade the newly recruited militants to surrender “but his associates didn’t allow him to come out.”
“We tried our best to take the surrender of the newly recruited third militant but he was not allowed to do so by his associates," the IGP said. Sources said the slain militants were all locals, affiliated with the Al-Badr outfit.
According to local media reports, Faisal was the lone brother of four sisters and had joined militant ranks just last Tuesday.
Two more militants were killed in a separate overnight gunfight with security forces at the Semthan area of Bijbehara in neighbouring Anantnag district.
Police said the slain militants were responsible for killing an army soldier two days ago. The encounter erupted in the area Saturday evening shortly after security forces cordoned off the area following specific inputs about the presence of militants.
In the last three days, security forces have killed 12 militants affiliated with Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), Al-Badr and Lashkar-e-Toiba outfits in south Kashmir. While seven among the slain militants belonged to AGuH including the outfit’s chief, three were from Al-Badr and two were affiliated with the LeT, police said.
According to official figures, 28 militancy-related incidents were reported in Kashmir from January 1 till date in which 36 militants were killed. Last year, 225 militants, including 46 commanders, and 60 security forces personnel, including 16 policemen were killed in over 103 anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir while 38 civilians had also lost their lives in militancy-related incidents.