Militant killed, army man injured in Shopian gunfight

Militant killed, army man injured in Shopian gunfight

Anantnag: A militant was killed while an army man was injured in a gunfight between militants and government forces here in Shopian district on Monday. The operation was still going on, according to police, when this report was filed.
The police were yet to reveal the identity of the slain militant to the press, but sources told Kashmir Reader that the militant was a local and had gone missing on September 4 from his home in Drawani village of Imam-Sahib area in Shopian.
“22-year-old Akir Ahmad had joined militant ranks some days back and has been killed today,” the police source said, adding that his family has been called in for identification.
The injured army man has been identified as Dhaan Singh Gujar. “He has received splinter injuries and has been evacuated to the army hospital in Srinagar. He is stated to be stable,” the police source said.
The gunfight took place in Heff Shirmal area of Shopian district, where an operation was launched following inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area, police said.
“The militants were surrounded and were given a chance to lay down their arms. They, however, refused to do so and opened indiscriminate fire,” a senior police official from the area said.
He said that the fire was retaliated and one militant was gunned down. “Body of the militant has been retrieved and we are trying to ascertain his identity. Arms and ammunition, along with some incriminating material have also been retrieved from the site of the gunfight. A search operation is still going on in the area and we are trying to find other militants,” the official said.
He said that the slain militant’s body will be sent to north Kashmir for burial, following the completion of medico-legal formalities.
The authorities have refused to hand over bodies of slain militants to their families, citing Covid protocol, since April 2020. The practice of burying militants at undisclosed locations in presence of a few family members has continued ever since. This has prevented people from holding massive funeral prayers for slain militants, wherein tens of thousands of people would normally participate.
Today’s gunfight was the fourth in the month of September, during which five militants have been killed thus far. Four militants, two of Hizb and two of AGuH, have been killed in two earlier gunfights in Dachnipora area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
In an earlier gunfight on September 6, also in Shopian district, militants had managed to give the forces a slip after engaging them in an exchange of fire.
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.

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