Soldier, three militants killed in Kashmir's Kupwara 

The operation against the militants in Magam area has ended but another gunfight started between the security forces and militants in the Gujarpati forested area.
Army personnel move towards the house where militants were hiding during an encounter with the Lashkar-e-Taiba LeT militants at Magam in Handwara district of north Kashmir on Tuesday. | PTI
Army personnel move towards the house where militants were hiding during an encounter with the Lashkar-e-Taiba LeT militants at Magam in Handwara district of north Kashmir on Tuesday. | PTI

SRINAGAR: Three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and an Army man were killed and two others got injured in twin encounters in tborder district of Kupwara on Tuesday, taking the death toll of militants killed in security forces operations this year to 194. Among these, 113 are foreign militants and 81 locals.

An army official said acting on specific information about presence of some Lashkar militants, a joint team of police, CRPF and army launched combing and search operation in Wuchar area in Handwara last evening.

He said that the troops had maintained a tight vigil in the night and in the morning called the village sarpanch to ask militants hiding in a house to surrender.

“The militants turned down the surrender offer and fired on the security personnel. The fire was returned by the troops and in the ensuing gunfight, three Lashkar militants were killed and an army man injured,” the official said.

He said that all the deceased militants were Pakistani nationals.

“Some arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site,” he said.

The official said minimum inconvenience was caused to the people during the operation.

Another encounter erupted between militants and security forces at Zirhama area of border district of Kupwara in the afternoon.

The encounter started after militants hiding in the area fired on the joint search party of police, CRPF and army men during a combing operation, defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia said.

He said an army man has been killed and two others injured in the ongoing encounter.

Kalia said the injured armymen have been hospitalised.

A police official said they have got information that two to three militants were hiding in the area.

“The operation was going on,” he added.

Meanwhile, large number of people attended the funeral prayers of slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Adil Chopan of Larow, Tral area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district today.

At least four militants also appeared in his funeral procession and fired some rounds in air to pay “homage to their fallen cadre.”

Adil was killed in an encounter with security forces in Seer forest area of Tral yesterday.

He had escaped from an encounter in May 27 in which top Hizb commander and Burhan’s successor Sabzar Bhat was killed.

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