SRI NAGAR: Two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, including a Pakistani national, were killed in an encounter while a civilian died and 20 others sustained injuries during clashes with security forces near the scene of a gunbattle in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the wee hours of Tuesday, acting on specific information, police, CRPF and army launched a joint search operation in Kundalan village of Shopian and while the searches were going on, militants hiding in a house fired on the search party. The fire was returned by troops, triggering an encounter.
A police official said some civilians trapped in nearby houses were evacuated by the forces during the gunfight.The deceased were identified as Sameer Ahmad Sheikh, a local and Babar from Pakistan.
As the encounter began, youth of the adjoining areas took to roads and attempted to march towards the encounter site to pave way for militants to escape. They allegedly pelted stones on security men and the latter retaliated with pellets, tear gas shells and bullets to disperse the crowd.
Roughly 120 people sustained injuries in the forces’ action and were referred to nearby hospital, where from some critically injured were referred to Srinagar hospital for specialised treatment, said a doctor at a Shopian hospital.
One of the critically injured boy identified as Tamsheel Ahmad Khan, 16, succumbed to injuries while being shifted to Srinagar hospital.