In Shopian, militants escape after brief exchange of fire

Srinagar: Two militants, yet to be identified, were killed Friday morning in a gunfight with government forces in Pattan area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said.
In another gunfight, here in Shopian district in south Kashmir, militants managed to escape after a brief exchange of fire with government forces.
Baramulla SSP Rayees Muhammad Bhat said that the slain militants in the Pattan gunfight were yet to be identified. “An operation was launched following inputs regarding presence of militants in Yedipora village of Pattan, early Friday morning,” Bhat said.
He said that the militants were asked to lay down their arms, but they opened fire, which was retaliated to.
“Both the militants have been killed in the gunfight,” Bhat said. “Bodies of the militants, along with an AKS74U rifle, a pistol, some ammunition and other incriminating material have been recovered,” he said.
Bhat said that efforts were on to ascertain the identity of the slain. Bodies of the slain will be later sent to an undisclosed location for burial, as has been the norm now.
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.
Bhat said that the slain militants were planning to target the army’s ongoing Agniveer recruitment rally. “They were planning to target people who want to join the mainstream. Their designs have been foiled,” Bhat said.
In Shopian, an operation was launched in Chitragam area in the wee hours of Friday morning. “Contact was initially established with the militants but they managed to escape, owing to the darkness, after exchanging heavy fire with security forces,” a police source from the area said.
Nine militants have been killed in September thus far across the Kashmir valley, in six different gunfights. Two of the gunfights were reported from Dachnipora area of Bijbehara in Anantnag district, leading to the killing of four militants.
The third gunfight was reported in Shopian district which led to the killing of a militant. An army man also sustained injuries in this gunfight.
Two back-to-back gunfights in Kulgam district led to the killing of two militants, one of them a Pakistani national and the other a local, both members of Jaish-e-Muhammad.
Militants, on the other hand, have been targeting Kashmiri Pandits, non-locals, policemen on leave, and politically affiliated locals.

Suhail A Shah