Four soldiers, 2 militants killed in Tangdar, Kulgam encounters
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
_______
SRINAGAR, May 25: Even as
security forces suffered a major setback, losing three soldiers, including a
Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in a fierce encounter with the infiltrating
militants on the LoC in Tangdar area of Kupwara district on Monday, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba’s
top wanted “District Commander” in South Kashmir, Ayatullah alias Khomeini, got
killed in another gunbattle in Kulgam.
Director General of Police
K Rajendra Kumar told State Times that an Army patrol was ambushed by a group
of heavily armed infiltrating militants around Darshak Post, on the LoC, in
Tangdar. Troops retaliated effectively and killed at least one militant. “But,
unfortunately our men got possibly exposed and three of them died in the
ambush”, DGP said. According to the information available with the DGP, one of
three soldiers killed in the encounter was a Subedar.
“The operation is
continuing as reinforcement has rushed to the spot. We are sure that more than
one militant have died, though we have spotted only one body”, DGP said.
Defence spokesperson at
headquarters of 15 Corps, Lt Col. N.N. Joshi said that the patrol, led by a
JCO, intercepted an infiltrating group of terrorists. “In the heavy exchange
of fire that followed, the infiltrating group was beaten back leaving behind one
dead terrorist from whom one AK-47, one Pistol and other administrative items
were recovered. During the firefight, four jawan sustained injuries of which
three succumbed and one is out of danger. As per last reports, the operation is
still in progress”.
DGP Rajendra, who visited the site of another
encounter and spoke to State Times from Kulgam late on Monday night, said that
a couple of militants ambushed a patrol of rashtriya Rifles 1st
battalion at Kanjikullah, near Yaripora village of Kulgam, in the afternoon.
Troops retaliated and at least one militant got injured. However, in the
initial shootout, one soldier got critically injured who later succumbed to
injuries at Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar.
Residents led the troops to a trail of blood which
helped the Army, alongwith Kulgam Police and CRPF 18th battalion,
reach the militant hideout in an orchard. The injured militant engaged troops
in another gunfight in which he died. He was later identified as Ayatullah Bhat
alias Khomeini of Chinnigam Frisal, a top wanted “District Commander” of LeT.
According to Police records, Khomeini, who also
operated with code name of Abu Maaz, was wanted in several militancy related
crimes since 2010. He had allegedly shot dead Sarpanch Gul Mohammad Dar
of Hawora on February 9, 2012, He was also wanted for allegedly killing one
Police and two CRPF personnel at Arwani and Awaneera and the assassination of a
civilian, Zakir Sayeed Bhat of Sangas Kulgam.
DGP described Khomeini’s death in Monday’s encounter as a major success
for security forces and Police and a significant setback for LeT. He said that
apart from planning and carrying out several attacks on soft targets, Police
and security forces, Khomeini had also recruited a number of the local youths
in his organisation. He was a close associate of LeT’s topmost commander in
South Kashmir Abu Qasim.
An official spokesman said that unidentified gunmen, suspected to be
militants, fired upon the local subsidiary of BSNL, Iqra Telecom in Naupora
Sopore, in the forenoon. Three persons at the business establishment sustained
injuries. They were identified as Mohammad Rafeeq of Pohru Handwara, Ghulam
Mohammad Bhat of Noorbagh and Imtiyaz Ahmad Lone of Achhabal, Sopore. They were
rushed to Srinagar and admitted to SMHS Hospital where Rafeeq succumbed to
injuries.
In a significant development, separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani
condemned the attack on the unarmed civilians. In an unusual condemnation,
Geelani without blaming the government agencies alleged that some people were
doing acts of terror to defame Islam and Kashmir’s separatist movement.
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