JOIN USMilitants shot dead a Territorial Army (TA) man at his residence in Suhart area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Monday.
Reports said militants barged into the house of Mukhtar Ahmad Malik alias Mukhtar Gola of TA 162 Battalion and was shot at him from a close range. Malik died on the spot.
Unconfirmed reports said the soldier had come to his home to mourn the death of his son. Before joining the TA, Malik was commander of Ikhwan, a pro-government force, which broke the backbone of militancy in mid and late 1990’s.
The militants have been increasingly attacking soldiers and policemen on leave in south Kashmir. On August 22, three policemen, including an officer, were killed in south Kashmir areas when they were home to celebrate Bakr Eid.
Earlier on June 14 this year, militants abducted and murdered rifleman Aurangzeb Khan of Rashtriya Rifles when he was going to join his family in Mendhar area of Poonch district to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
Over the last three years, south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama have become the epi-centre of new age militancy with soldiers, policemen and political workers frequently targeted by militants and mobs.