Pulwama, Oct 30: Two unidentified militants were killed in an encounter at Chankitar village of Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
A gunfight raged in Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday afternoon.
A police official said that the joint forces of 42RR, CRPF and SOG launched a search operation in the Chankitar village of Tral area on Tuesday afternoon and when forces intensified searches, the hiding militants fired from one of the suspected houses on forces which triggered an encounter.
Sources said “the house was in flames where militants, were believed to be holed up.”
A police official said, “Two unidentified bodies of militants have been retrieved from the site of encounter and one sniper and AK 47 rifles have been recovered and the identity is yet to be ascertained.”
However soon after the encounter, “clashes were witnessed near encounter site and in main town Tral,” said, an eyewitness.
The gunfight broke out in the village today afternoon after the forces launched a cordon-and-search-operation in the area Tuesday afternoon following specific inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.
He said as the forces were undertaking searches in the area, the militants fired upon them.
The government forces retaliated, ensuing an encounter, the official said, adding that two to three militants were believed to be trapped in the area.
Meanwhile, in the wake of encounter, clashes also erupted in Tral when youth took to streets and started pelting the government forces with stones near Bus Stand Tral.
All the shops were closed and traffic went off the roads, reports said.
Meanwhile, as per GNS, a local news agency, one of the killed militant was nephew of JEM chief Masood Azhar.
Identified as Mohammad Azhar, JEM paid tributes to him and identified the another militant as Showkat Ahmad, a local, GNS reported.
Meanwhile, the Al-Badr militant outfit today said that the wanted Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zeenatul Islam has joined Al-Badr and he has been welcomed in the outfit.
A spokesman of Al-Badr in an audio message to KNO said that Islam was initially with the Al-Badr then he joined Lahkar and now was with the Hizb.
“He has now joined back the Al-Badr outfit again and we welcome him,” said the spokesman as reported by KNO.
Militants attack Army vehicle in Shopian
Srinagar, Oct 30: Militants on Tuesday afternoon attacked a mobile bunker vehicle of the Army at a village in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
A police official said that militants opened fire on the Casper vehicle of 23 Para in Meemender area of Shopian around 1:50 pm. The army personnel retaliated, he said.
There were no immediate reports of any fatalities on the either side during the exchange of fire, he said.
Following the attack, government forces cordoned off the whole area to nab the attackers, said the official.
Clashes also erupted in the village after forces launched a search operation.
A journalist was hit by pellets during these clashes between protesters and the government forces.
Reports said that Aijaz Ahmad Dar, who works as a videographer with a New Delhi-based TV channel, was injured during the clashes.
Dar was shifted to District Hospital Shopian for treatment where a doctor said that he has suffered pellet injury in his head and neck.
