Two army soldiers, cop injured in gunfight

Anantnag: A militant was killed while three government forces personnel including two army soldiers and a policeman were injured in a gunfight between militants and government forces in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. The operation was going on while this report was being filed.
The body of the slain militant has been retrieved along with arms and ammunition. The identity of the slain is yet to be ascertained, sources in the police said.
“Identification and medico-legal formalities are being carried out following which the body will be sent to north Kashmir for burial,” the sources said.
The injured forces personnel were evacuated to army’s 92 Base Hospital in Badamibagh cantonment area of Srinagar. There was no official word on the condition of the injured.
Initially, there were reports about the killing of an army soldier among the injured. However, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Vijay Kumar denied it.
“No army man has been killed. One militant has been killed and three security forces personnel, including two army men and a police man have been injured,” Kumar told a local news agency.
The gunfight erupted Tuesday at about 6 am here in Gusoo village of Pulwama district after a cordon and search operation launched in view of inputs regarding presence of militants in the area.
“Contact was established with the militants soon after the operation was launched and they were asked to lay down their arms and surrender,” a senior police official said, adding that the militants opened indiscriminate fire in a bid to escape.
He said that one of the militants was gunned down in retaliatory fire while the hunt to trace other militants was on. “The body of the slain militant along with an AK-47 has been retrieved from the site of the gunfight,” the official said.
Sources in the police, meanwhile, maintained that the other militants might have managed to escape. “The operation however is still on and the area is being combed,” they said.
Authorities snapped mobile internet services in Pulwama district soon after the first shots were fired. Amid this, people thronged the site of the gunfight and clashed with government forces.
“The youth were however dispersed by forces, who fired tear smoke shells. The youth kept regrouping and the clashes continued in the area,” local sources told Kashmir Reader.

Suhail A Shah