SRINAGAR: An eight-year-old boy was killed and four other children injured in a mysterious blast inside their residential compound in south Kashmir's Shopian district while an army commando was killed in a gunfight with militants in forest area of border district of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Police sources said five children were playing with some explosive device in the compound of their house at Meemandar village in Shopian in the afternoon when the device exploded.
All the five children suffered injuries in the blast and were rushed to nearby hospital, where 8-year-old boy Saliq Iqbal Ganie was declared brought dead. The other four children injured identified as Tahir, 12,ster Razia, 8, Arsalan 11 and Suhaib were referred to Srinagar hospitals for specialised treatment.
The doctors attending on the injured have termed condition of one of the injured boy as critical.
After the blast, police and forensic teams visited the blast site to collect samples to ascertain nature of the blast. Meanwhile, a para-commando of army was killed in a gunfight with militants in forest area of Kupwara in north Kashmir today.
Army sources said soldiers launched search operation in Kandi forest area of Kupwara yesterday after receiving information about presence of militants there. They said on the second day of the search operation, soldiers established contact with the militants in Sadu Ganga forest area.
"The militants fired on the army men. The fire was returned by the troops and in the ensuing firefight, which continued for about an hour, a para-commando was injured," sources said.
The injured para commando identified as Mukul Meena was evacuated to military hospital Drugmulla, where doctors declared him brought dead. An army official said the search operation is continuing in the forest area. He said more troops have been rushed to the area to tighten the siege.
"No fresh contact was established with the militants," he said adding, combing operation is going on.