Two militants and an Indian Army soldier were killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district early on Tuesday, the police said. The militants are believed to have been affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, an unidentified police officer told Greater Kashmir. Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel were also injured in the gunfight.
“The bodies are yet to be recovered,” he added. The officer said that the deceased soldier was identified as Prakash Yadav. He was taken to a hospital after being injured but died there.
The slain militants have been identified as Ajaz Ahmad Makroo and Waris Ahmad Malik, PTI reported. “As per police records, both the killed terrorists were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes, including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” a police officer said. He added that Makroo was a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders Naveed Jat and Azad Dada.
The two CRPF men who were wounded are Sub-Inspector Amit Kumar and Constable Avnish.
The gunfight broke out in Redwani area of Kulgam district around 1 am in the morning. The Kashmir Zone Police tweeted in the morning that the gunbattle was now in its final stages.
Militant killed in Tral encounter
Meanwhile, one militant was killed in an ongoing gunbattle between security forces and suspected militants in Tral area of Pulwama district. He has been identified as Shakir Hassan Dar, suspected to be a member of the Ansar Ghazwatul Hind group, unidentified police officers told PTI. The group is believed to be an offshoot of the Al Qaeda, operating in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
“A cordon and search operation was launched jointly by police and security forces early morning based on a credible input about the presence of terrorists in Hafoo Reshipora area of Tral township,” a press release by the Jammu and Kashmir Police said. “As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the terrorists. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight.”
The press release added: “Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter.”
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