Three suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in the Kakapora area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday. The police said that the militants were involved in Thursday’s attack on a Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s house in Nowgam, reported PTI.
The gunfight began after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Dobhi Mohalla in the Kakapora area, a police official said. He said that the militants fired upon the security forces who retaliated.
Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar confirmed that the three militants were involved in the attack on BJP leader Anwar Ahmad’s home in Nowgam, in which police officer Rameez Raja was killed.
The militants had decamped with the rifle of the officer who was killed, reported NDTV. After the attack, the police said, they launched an operation to track down the militants and were able to corner them in Kakapora.
Unidentified officials told NDTV that the militants were carrying the rifle of the killed police officer. “They are trapped in a three-story house and operation is underway,” said a senior police officer. “During [the] operation, a portion of the house was pulled down with an IED [improvised explosive device] blast. It will take few hours to neutralise the terrorists.”
Two civilians were also injured in the attack. Ishrat Jan, 25, and Ghulam Nabi Dar, 42, both residents of Pulwama’s Samboora area, were admitted to a hospital. Their condition is said to be stable, officials said.
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