A Lashkar-e-Taiba commander was among two militants killed in the gunfight in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday, the police said, reported PTI.
The commander has been identified as Uzair Khan, Additional Director General of Police Vijay Kumar said. “The dead body of another terrorist is visible, but it has not been possible to retrieve it yet,” he added.
On Tuesday, the Army said it had recovered the body of an Army sepoy, who was missing from the site of the gunfight, which began on began on September 13. He was identified as Pardeep Singh.
This takes the toll of security forces personnel killed in the gunfight to four. Earlier, Colonel Manpreet Singh and Major Aashish Dhonchak of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles and Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Muzamil Bhat were killed when the gunfight broke out.
The Rashtriya Rifles is the counter-insurgency force of the Army that operates in Jammu and Kashmir.
On Tuesday, Kumar said that Khan was behind the killing of Singh, Dhonchak and Bhat, reported The Hindu.
He added that the search operation will continue in the area.
“There is a huge area that remains to be searched,” Kumar said. “There can be a lot of unexploded shells which will be recovered and destroyed. We appeal to the people not to go to the area.”
Kumar also said that security forces had reports of two to three militants in the area, reported PTI.
“There is a possibility that the third dead body may be somewhere,” he said. “It will be known after the search is complete.”
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