4 soldiers, 4 militants killed in twin gunfights in Jammu and Kashmir
SRI NAGAR: Four Army men, including a Major, and an equal number of militants were on Tuesday killed while at least 11 other security personnel and a civilian were injured in two separate encounters in Kashmir.
An officer said the police, the CRPF and the Army launched a combined combing and search operation in Parray Mohalla in Hajin area of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, acting on information about the presence of militants, in the wee hours.
The militants hiding in a house fired towards the security personnel using automatic weapons before the forces could launch an assault on the house.
In the initial militant firing, five Army men including an officer, Major Thapa, sustained injuries. He and other injured soldiers are undergoing treatment at a hospital. In the gunfight that ensued for over three hours, three more Army men, CRPF commandant Chetan Kumar Cheetah, and four policemen sustained injuries.
A Lashkar militant was killed in the gunfight, the police officer said. He added that three of the injured Army men, identified as Dharmender Kumar of Nainital, Uttarakhand, rifleman Ravi Kumar of Samba, J&K, and gunner Ashutosh Kumar of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, later succumbed to injuries in the military hospital.
The identity of the slain Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant is being ascertained, the officer added. Sources said two militants may have escaped from the area during the gunfight. According to a source, the CRPF commandant, who received multiple bullet injuries, has been flown to Delhi for specialised treatment. An Army official said security forces suffered casualties as they tried to avoid collateral damage.
After the encounter started, people in the area took to the streets and clashed with the security personnel, who lobbed tear smoke shells and resorted to baton charge to disperse the agitating people. A youth sustained injuries in the melee. Six people also sustained injuries in security forces action on protestors during clashes at Saderkoot area of Bandipora. A youth, who had sustained pellet injuries on the face, was referred to Srinagar hospital for specialised treatment.
Meanwhile, the police, Army and paramilitary forces launched a joint combing and search operation at Khan Mohalla in Hanjan Kralgund of Handwara in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Major S Dahiya was injured in the encounter and later succumbed to his injuries. “During the operation, militants fired on the search party.
The troops fired in retaliation and in the gunfight, three militants were killed,” said defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia.
On Monday, four militants, two Army men and a civilian were killed during a gunfight in Kulgam area. Another civilian was killed when security forces fired at protestors during clashes near the encounter site.