SRINAGAR: Five Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including a commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kiloora village of South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday, while a civilian died in Army firing on protestors during clashes at the native village of one of the slain militants.
The police, CRPF and Army men had laid siege around Kiloora village on Friday evening after a tip-off that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were hiding there. “As the security men challenged, the militants fired at them. The troops returned the fire,” the official said. The exchange of fire continued till Saturday morning.
Five LeT men - Umar Nazir Malik, Arshad Ahmad Khan, Aijaz Ahmad Pul, Waqar Ahmed Sheikh and Arif Ahmad Mir - were killed. Umar, according to police, was a commander.
Thousands of people visited the native place of the slain militants and attended their funeral prayers amidst chanting of pro-freedom, pro-Islamic and anti-India slogans. During the funeral of Arshad at Ganowpora village of Shopian, clashes erupted between Army and locals. Youths pelted stones on soldiers, who retaliated with bullets.
Three sustained injuries in Army firing. One of them, Bilal Ahmad Khan, 20, was critically injured and succumbed to his injuries.
Meanwhile, the Lashkar commander Naveed Jhat, who escaped from police custody in a Srinagar hospital in February this year, appeared in funeral of Waqar Ahmad Sheikh at Malikgund village of Shopian. He fired some rounds in air to pay tributes to his fallen comrades.
Naveed, a Pakistani, is one of the most wanted militants and is also one of the accused in the murder of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari.