All 3 ultras found dead in Srinagar gunbattle

Early Times Report

SRINAGAR, Oct 22: Even as Police and security forces are still in search of a 3-member fidayeen group of Jaish-e-Mohammad, reportedly planning “a major strike” around the visit of the US President Barack Obama in first week of November in Bandipore-Srinagar belt, a fierce gunbattle in Srinagar outskirts of Shalteng-Maloora has ended with recovery of dead bodies of all three holed up militants.

Official sources told Early Times that dead body of the third militant was recovered today from the debris of a residential house that had been destroyed during day-long gunbattle between three holed up militants and security forces on at Zari Mohalla of Maloora, on Srinagar-Bandipore Road on Thursday. The militant found killed today was identified as Saiful Islam. Two of his associates, identified as Yusuf Bhai alias Arshid Youni and Mumtaz, had been found killed last evening. Sources said that the three dead bodies were handed over to civilians of Nowgam area who reportedly buried them after performing necessary religious rituals.

Sources said that three AK-56 rifles and a large quantity of ammunition and accessories were recovered from the site of the encounter. Recoveries and radio intercepts indicated that all the three slain militants were members of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit. Officials believe them all as Pakistani nationals even as an intercept indicated that Yousuf Bhai was a Burmese national, trained in Afghanistan.

Sources said that working on some intelligence inputs, Police and Army were in search of yet another group of three foreign militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad that had been reportedly planning “a major strike” around the visit of the US President Barack Obama in Bandipore-Srinagar belt in the first week of November.

As already reported, yesterday’s encounter at Maloora was the first bloody confrontation between militants and security forces in the capital city after a major gunbattle at Lalchowk on January 6^th. Middle of the year remained turbulent with street clashes and shootouts that left over a dozen demonstrators killed in Srinagar alone.

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