Pulwama, Jan 29: In the very first gunfight of this year Joint Forces neutralized three unidentified militants in Tral village of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
“The encounter was brief but effective. All the three trapped militants were killed shortly after the area was brought under siege,” said a top police official.
“After receiving inputs about the presence of militants, Joint Forces cordoned off Mandura hamlet of Tral town. Door-to-door search operation was launched in the village. When the house where militants were present was zeroed in, they resorted to indiscriminate firing. In retaliation, Joint Forces killed a militant instantly while it took not more than 10 minutes to neutralize rest of the two militants,” the official said.
The slain militants according to reports are affiliated with banned organizations Hizbul Mujahedeen, believed to be locals.
Police said they are ascertaining the identity of these slain militants.
Local sources told news agency that militants were trapped in a house who came out in open and started firing at search party. All the three militants were killed in the exchange of fire.
Last year in the same month, a militant Faizan Hamid, a native of same Mandoora village was killed in an encounter along with his two associates in Gulshanpora Tral.
While divulging information about the gunfight, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar said that the slain militants were locals hailing from Tral town. He identified them as Waris Hasan, Arif Bashir and Syed Hafiz.
“One AK-47, 2 pistols and 2 grenades were recovered from the encounter site,” he said.
Kumar said that two slain militants were newly recruited while one was involved in a grenade attack in Tral this year, that had left a trooper and 8 civilians injured.
IGP said that all the three slain militants were affiliated with militant outfit Hizbul Mujhadeen.
While responding to a question, Kumar said that Pakistan is instigating youth in Kashmir through portal and social media. “We are planning to started council the youth. Parents have to play an important role to guide their children,” he said.
Compared to other months last year, this year the month of January turned out more or less peaceful in Valley, with no encounter or any major attack from militants.
Last year in the month of January, 23 persons including 17 militants, 3 soldiers, a cop and 2 army potters were killed in Jammu and Kashmir. Compared to these 23 casualties, this year in January the number stands at 7 including 4 soldiers and 3 militants. Only one soldier died in a militant attack this month in Kashmir while three others were killed in cross border firing by Pakistan.
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