Anantnag: A gunfight between militants and government forces is taking place in Shopian district, police said on Monday evening.
Police sources told Kashmir Reader that the militants might have escaped, taking advantage of darkness, but the operation was still going on when this report was filed.
“A combing operation is being carried out. We guess the militants might have already escaped,” a police source told Kashmir Reader. “The firing, too has stopped for a while now,”he added.
The operation was taking place in Baskuchan village of Imam-Sahib area, where forces had launched an operation following inputs regarding the presence of militants.
“The militants opened fire while the area was being cordoned off. The fire was retaliated, triggering a gunfight,” a senior police official said. “Reinforcements have been rushed to the area, and lights have been installed to track down the militants.”
For now, the official said, there has not been any fresh contact with the militants and firing has stopped.
Today’s gunfight was the first in the month of September. In August, six militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in three different gunfights across Kashmir valley. The gunfights have been fewer and far between in August compared to the rest of the year.
More than 130 militants have been killed this year in different gunfights, 32 of them Pakistani nationals. “The rest of them were locals,” a police official told Kashmir Reader.
Militants, on the other hand, have been targeting Kashmiri Pandits, non-locals, policemen on leave, and politically affiliated locals.

Suhail A Shah