SRINAGAR: In one of the biggest setbacks to security forces in a single anti-militancy operation, an Army Colonel, a Major, and a Deputy Superintendent of Police were killed in a gunfight with militants in the Kokernag area of Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
A police official said a joint contingent of police and Army led by officers launched a search operation in the Gadole area of Anantnag in south Kashmir on Tuesday evening after they received a tip-off about the presence of militants.
When the search operation resumed on Wednesday morning, militants hiding in the area fired using automatic weapons. Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish Dhonchak, and Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Bhat, who were leading from the front, sustained bullet injuries and were evacuated to a military hospital in Srinagar, where they succumbed to their injuries.
Banned outfit claims responsibility
Resistance Front, a shadow group of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, has claimed responsibility for the encounter. Officials believe it is the same group that killed three army personnel on August 4 in Kulgam.