An Army Major and three soldiers were martyred, while a civilian and two top militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were killed in a fierce encounter, which ensued during a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) in south Kashmir district of Pulwama, in the wee hours of Monday, official sources said.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Kashmir Range Amit Kumar and three Army personnel, including a senior officer were injured, after fresh encounter erupted at the encounter site.
Meanwhile, mobile internet service, which was resumed last night in the valley after remaining suspended during the day, has been blocked in Pulwama, where clashes have also erupted.
Monday’s encounter ensued three days after 44 CRPF personnel were martyred in a fidayeen attack at Awantipora on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Pulwama district on Thursday afternoon.
Sources said that on a tip-off about the presence of militants in village Pinglan, about three km from main town in Pulwama on Srinagar-Shopian road, troops of 55 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police and CRPF launched a joint search operation, in the wee hours of Monday.
However, when the security forces were sealing the particular area in the village at 0100 hrs, militants hiding there opened indiscriminate firing, in which four soldiers, including a Major, were critically wounded.
The injured were shifted to 92 Base hospital, where they reportedly succumbed. The deceased were identified as Major D S Dondial, soldiers Seva Ram, Ajay Kumar and Hari Singh.
Two militants of JeM, including a commander involved in recent fidayeen attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama on Thursday, were also killed. The operation was going on, when the reports last came in.
The slain militants were identified as Kamran, a Pakistan national, who was responsible for recruiting, radicalising and training militants in Kashmir Valley. The second militant was identified as Hilal Ahmed, a local Kashmiri bomb specialist.
Sources said as the security forces were conducting searches in the area, there was fresh firing, in which DIG Amit Kumar was hit by a bullet in the foot. A senior Army officer and two other soldiers were injured.
Meanwhile, a civilian Mushtaq Ahmad, who was also hit by a bullet near the encounter site, has also succumbed. The residents in nearby houses have been shifted to safer places.
Local residents said they heard loud explosions and heavy exchange of firing, when the CASO was launched by the security forces.
They said additional security forces have been deployed and all exit points were sealed, to foil any attempt by the militants to escape.
They said there was was no firing until first light this morning, when security forces went all out to storm the house, where the militants were trapped. Heavy exchange of fire was going on from both sides, they added. Two to three militants are holed up in the area, sources further added.
Meanwhile, additional security forces and state police personnel were deployed in adjacent villages, to prevent any demonstration, said the sources.
