SRINAGAR: A head constable of the Jammu and Kashmir Police was killed after terrorists opened fire in Anantnag town on Wednesday, officials said.
The attack took place around 12.30 pm at Lal Chowk in Anantnag. The victim, Head Constable Ashiq Hussain, was deployed on security duty for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.
Officials said Hussain sustained critical injuries in the firing and was rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital in Anantnag, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Following the attack, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to trace the assailants.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow outfit of Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack through a social media post.
It is the first militant attack on security force personnel in the Kashmir Valley this year.
The attack comes a fortnight after Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Zakir Ganai was killed in an encounter in Kashmir's Shopian district on July 8, during a four-day anti-militancy operation launched by security forces following information about the presence of two LeT militants, including Ganai.